Everdream
by Crash
Summary: After joining in a field aliance with the Sand Ninjas, Shikamaru finds himself working uncomfortably close to Temari. More worrisome, however, is that the same aliance leaves Ino working dangerously close to Gaara...
1. Go West, Young Man!

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Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, nor any of it characters or likenesses, and would not claim to do anything official with them. This is merely a fanfic, and is intended for the private enjoyment of the Naruto fandom. (That would be you.) I've rated this story PG-13 for violence, occasional swearing, more violence, and, well look, its Naruto. What would you expect?

Authors Notes: As should be immediately obvious, this story begins shortly after the final phase of the Chuunin Exam, and diverges from the manga from there. Also, the bulk of the story takes place outside of Fire Country. This becomes rather critical as the story progresses. I will be explaining things as I go, but if you'd like a visual, the Naruto-kun website has a useful map under its 'village information guide.' On the map is an unnamed grey country between Fire Country and Wind Country. That, for the purposes of this story, is Steppe Country.

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EVERDREAM

Go West, Young Man!

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Village of the Hidden Leaf, Administrative Offices…

"Maaaaan…" Muttered Nara Shikamaru, as he slouched against armrest of a well-worn bench. "I can't believe we're reporting for missions already."

"Already?" Replied Yamanaka Ino, from beside her teammate. "I can't believe they waited this _long_ to call us back."

"I can't believe they reopened this place without fixing the vending machines."

Leaning forward, Shikamaru and Ino silently glared at the ninja sitting at the far end of the bench. But as usual, Akimichi Choji ignored them, instead rummaging through his near-empty bag of potato chips. After a moment, Shikamaru sighed and leaned back, while Ino just shook her head. Neither bothered actually responding.

It had been little more than a week since the end of the Chuunin Exam, and the battle that had erupted from it. Though quick evacuations had prevented many civilian casualties, street by street fighting between the Sand, Sound, and Leaf ninjas had left large swaths of wreckage throughout Konoha. Following the funeral service for the Third Hokage, most of the younger ninjas had been ordered to help with the relief efforts, and then left to their own devices. Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji been doing just that until the previous night, when they all received a summons to appear at the main office the next morning.

"Ahem." All three ninjas looked up as Iruka stood up at the dispatch desk. "Oiry Rakon, Hiyalla Niroshyia, and Kata Moniyori," addressed the Chuunin. "Please come forward. The officers are ready to see you now."

At the sound of their names, three young ninjas quietly got up and walked across the room.

As he watched the trio, Choji scratched his chin. "Moniyori? I thought he was a year behind us."

"He is," lazily responded Shikamaru.

"Didn't you hear?" Asked Ino as she folded her arms. "They graduated six new Gennin three days ago! A couple kids that got sent back from our year and then a bunch of even younger ones. Two new rookie teams, assigned to Jounins. That," Ino tilted her head to point to the dispatch desk, "was one of them."

"Early graduation?" Choji repeated as he tossed aside his empty chip bag. "That's not fair. Why couldn't we have gotten that?"

"'Cause we still had a Hokage when we were graduating," Ino quickly answered. "Let me tell you, Konoha is desperate. We're short on ninjas, short allies, and—"

"We know, Ino," Shikamaru interrupted. "We live here too…"

Choji leaned forward and smirked. "Yeah, but she figures you've spent too much time looking at the sky to notice." Knowing Shikamaru well enough to know he wouldn't respond to taunting, Choji leaned back immediately. "But how do you know its _that_ bad, Ino?"

Ino raised her eyebrows in a knowing way. "'Cause my dad is leading one of the new teams."

Choji paused, thinking. "Are the new kids any good?"

"One of them is a Cuhyisis. Tarmar, I think. He's supposed to be a bit of a genius. But…" Ino shook her head. "Not to the level of Sasuke. Or Neji. Or Lee. The rest…" Ino sighed. "I'd be surprised if any of them were even as good as us."

"Oh." Choji leaned back and went silent for a moment. At length, he spoke up again. "So they promoted rookies worse than us… Which means they'll be kept on the easy missions. Which'll free up more experienced ninjas for the important missions." Choji nervously glanced around the room, noting the absence of any uninjured veteran ninjas.

"Which, sadly, would be us," finished Ino. "I told you Konoha was desperate."

Choji looked around again, and then quietly gulped.

"Maaaaan…"

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The same, later…

"Your mission," began one of the council officers, whom neither Ino, Shikamaru, nor Choji had met before. Nor did they recognize the two Jounins that flanked the administrator. The only staffer the trio actually recognized was Iruka, who seemed unusually concerned. "…Is at the behest of Lord Jiiya, who rules a fiefdom in the northern provinces of Steppe Country. You will, therefore be working outside the physical boundaries of Fire Country. I trust none of you have a problem with that."

Shikamaru lamely raised a hand. "If we did, would we still have to go?"

One of the Jounin, a grizzled old soldier with one arm and a drooping face, chuckled to himself. Iruka scowled.

"Uh, we don't have a problem with going abroad," interjected Ino, seeking to diffuse the situation. "But… Why send us to Steppe Country? I thought we were hard pressed to fulfill missions here in Fire Country. Isn't taking on even more missions just…" Ino trailed off for a moment to avoid fumbling over her words. "Isn't that just stretching our forces even thinner, and making the whole situation worse?"

The second Jounin, a younger unkempt fellow, smirked. "Perceptive girl," He muttered to himself.

The council officer spoke up again. "Yes, Leaf forces are stretched thin at the moment. But that is why it is imperative that we _continue_ to take foreign missions."

Choji furrowed his brow. "Hm?"

"New recruits generally don't grasp the concept," the officer continued, "but foreign missions are central to the well being of Fire Country, as well as many nearby countries. Foreign missions are more than just missions. They are exercises in military power. That military power is what keeps the region secure. All too often, the overt threat of overwhelming military force is all that keeps feudal lords from developing their own forces. A lack of forces loyal only to them insures they settle their differences peaceably, or at least with only limited violence. The Leaf is largest of all ninja villages. It is _our_ forces that keep this land at peace."

"Makes sense," muttered Shikamaru. Under the officer's withering gaze, he only shrugged. "What? It does."

"Not really," Choji contradicted. "We've been outside Fire Country," Choji paused a second, "well, only once before, but nobody was thinking about war…"

"Precisely, my boy," answered the elder Jounin. "With Leaf and our…" The Jounin coughed. "_Allies_ at call, a conventional war is unthinkable. Whomever agitates for one will be utterly crushed. There is no way to avoid it. No conventional force can handle a ninja onslaught. Thus, open conflicts only arise between ninja villages."

The unkempt Jounin picked up the thread. "Foreign missions, even benign ones, remind the minor lords of this. It gives them a look of what we are capable of. And it proves that we are interested in what happens beyond our boarders, and will act there if there is need for us to. As long as the feudal leaders know open violence is futile, they will avoid it at all costs."

"Which is why we must continue to fulfill foreign obligations. Even to the expense of domestic ones," finished the officer. "The moment we begin shirking our duties, that we decline to use force when we are expected to, we send a message to all potential agitators. We tell them that we won't always get involved. And that means that the use of force, _their_ use of force, just might be a viable means of attaining their goals." The officer looked at each of the trio, his face deadly serious. "In short, it would signal that war is _not_ unthinkable. And that would make the world a much scarier place."

Choji seemed to shrink back. "So… We have to go stop a war?"

The injured Jounin gave a hearty laugh. "No, boy. Nothing so dramatic as that."

"Good," muttered Shikamaru.

"So what is our mission?" Asked Ino, with a slight twinkle in her eye. "Now that the civics lesson is over…"

The officer glanced at Ino, unamused. "As I said, you will go to the aid of Lord Jiiya, in Steppe Country. Several weeks ago, a number of people went missing from the countryside near his manor. Rather, a number of weeks ago it was _noticed_ that the people were missing. Due to the nature of rural life, it is impossible to determine an exact date for the event."

"What," half-heartedly prompted Shikamaru. "They couldn't bother talking to the farmers who lived next door?"

The unkempt Jounin cleared his throat and replied. "There were no neighbors to speak of. Outside of a few key valleys, the province is virtually uninhabited. The missing people all vanished from the same habitation; a small gold-panning outpost on a mountainside. No more than 25 people, mostly rogues, squatters, or other vagrants. None of them had anything more than sporadic contact with the local Lord. The settlement was found ravaged and abandoned by some traders who passed through."

"Bandits are not unknown in that area," continued the injured Jounin. "They mostly prey on travelers and villagers on the fringes of settlements. This, however, represents a major strike."

The council officer nodded and continued the thread. "Lord Jiiya is concerned that any attempts to use his own security forces to seek out the perpetrators would leave his citizenry open to direct attack. And given the audacity of the bandits, his concerns are not unfounded."

"Bandits?" Said Choji with a trace of unease. "I thought you said it wouldn't be so dramatic."

The injured Jounin chuckled. "That isn't dramatic. Highwaymen are standard fare for foreign missions. Sometimes even in domestic ones."

Choji scowled, unhappy at being corrected yet again.

The officer sighed, tiring of the multiple tangents the briefing had taken. "Lord Jiiya has sent a request and a deposit for a B level mission, and we are sending you three to fulfill this obligation. I want to emphasize that this is a _punitive_ mission." The officer picked the mission scroll off the table and pointed it at the trio for emphasis. "You will seek out the individuals responsible and either bring them to justice, or inflict justice upon them. You will not be asked to justify any casualties you leave behind."

Their mouths falling slightly open, Shikamaru and Choji's eyes widened in surprise.

"Oh," said Ino, being the only one able to articulate herself. "A B level mission. So I guess our Sensei will joining us after the briefing…"

"No," replied the unkempt Jounin, looking to the side. "Asuma is currently engaged in… A different matter."

Ino blinked. "Then… You're trusting a B mission to Gennin?"

"That's… Not quite true."

Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji all looked at Iruka, who had spoken for the first time since calling them forward.

Leaning slightly to the side, and seemingly trying to avoid eye contact, the ninja academy instructor continued. "In spite of recent events, the senior Jounin have found the time to discuss various performances in the Chuunin selection exam. And coming from those deliberations was the decision to…" Iruka closed his eyes in resignation. "Promote Nara Shikamaru to Chuunin."

With eyes even wider, Shikamaru and Choji openly gaped.

"But!" Stuttered Ino as she looked frantically from Jounin to Jounin. "But Shikamaru lost! He gave up!"

"As well he should have," said the wounded Jounin. Leaning back and stroking his disfigured cheek with his remaining hand, the Jounin wistfully continued. "Without any Chakra left, a tactical withdrawal was Nara's wisest course of action. It allowed him to escape unscathed from a very cunning adversary. But up to that point, he had thoroughly outfought Temari. Quite a feat, as she outclasses Nara in every aspect. Further, to have done so without any surprise maneuver or overwhelming Bloodtype Limit…" The Jounin smiled, as much as he was able to. "Pure talent," he said, addressing Shikamaru directly. "That's what you've got, boy. May it take you far."

At the officer's bidding, Iruka stood up and handed Shikamaru the mission scroll and a neatly folded flack jacket. "The mission is yours, Shikamaru," Iruka informed. "Ino and Choji are currently yours to command. The mission as we received it from Lord Jiiya is in the scroll. We expect the three of you to be on your way by nightfall. And…" Iruka trailed off, trying to find the right words. "…Good luck." With that, Iruka sat back down in resignation.

"Whoa…" Muttered Choji.

"Wow," added Ino.

Shikamaru stared blankly at his new uniform. "_Maaaaaaan_…"

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	2. Hard Ground

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Hard Ground

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The forest west of Konoha, late afternoon…

"The area's clear," reported Ino as she jumped down from the top of a tree. "There's a road about three klicks to the west, smoke from a village about twenty klicks north, and that's about it. Nothing unnatural." Ino smirked as she glanced at her two companions. "Like there would be, this close to Konoha. What could possib—"

"Ino, don't say that."

Ino slowly closed her mouth and gave an unenthusiastic shrug. "Ah. Right. Wouldn't want to jinx us…"

The trio had stopped in a clearing by a small creek. Shikamaru was sitting on a small rock outcropping, hunched forward and staring at the grass in front of him. Choji was sitting cross-legged on the ground, wolfing down a bag of chips. Ino, having just returned from doing reconnaissance, took a seat on a large tree branch that had fallen into the clearing. The trio's three travel packs were sitting in a neat pile between Choji and Shikamaru.

"So, fearless leader," Ino prompted, with a mocking note to her voice. "We've been on the road for about four hours now. More than enough time for you to 'mull things over.' Are you ready to start dispensing orders yet?"

Shikamaru wearily looked up, then sighed. "Actually, yeah. Choji, listen up. And, uh, enjoy the snack break while you can. We won't be taking them once we get out of Fire Country."

Choji looked up abruptly. "Nh?"

"Sorry," Shikamaru muttered, "but we gotta stay focused. So eat whatever you need during the main meals."

Ino leaned back. "Stay focused? Nara Shikamaru wants us to stay focused?"

Choji, recovering from his earlier surprise, grinned. "Heh, maybe they were right about you deserving that jacket, Shikamaru."

Shikamaru tugged uncomfortably at the jacket's collar. "Maybe. Maybe not. But it _does_ change your perspective…"

Amused, but serious, Ino leaned forward. "Okay then, fearless leader, what's the plan?"

"The plan," Shikamaru replied, "is this. Jiiya's fiefdom is in the north of Steppe Country. Way to the north. Border north." As he spoke, Shikamaru pulled out a kunai and began sketching a map in the dirt. "Right next to Rain Country. And just beyond some disputed territory here, you'll find Wind Country."

"Wind Country," Choji repeated, feeling uneasy. "That means… Sand Ninja territory."

Ino, having remembered the basic geography of Steppe Country from her academy lessons, looked seriously at Shikamaru. "You don't think other ninjas did this, do you? That Jiiya hired the Leaf to fight off the Sand or Rain?"

"I know," responded Shikamaru, looking at Choji. Shifting his gave to Ino, he continued. "But I don't think it was the Sand or Rain. Remember, this attack happened three weeks ago, at the latest. It probably happened before the Chuunin exam. Both countries are at least nominally allied with us, and with Steppe Country. Neither of them, especially of the Sand, would have wanted to start trouble before a major gathering like that. And even if they did, they wouldn't have done it by attacking something so pointless. No," Shikamaru concluded, looking back at his map. "This was bandits."

Shikamaru used his kunai to mark a point on the map. "Jiiya's capitol is here, well away from the Rain border. The Jounin in our briefing said that most of the province was uninhabited. That may be, but according to the map Jiiya sent in the mission scroll," Shikamaru added a three lines to his sketch. "There are well settled valleys here, here, and here. Which means there isn't much of the province that is _inaccessible_."

Choji narrowed his eyes, thinking. "So…"

"So?" Prompted Ino, figuring that Shikamaru was just walking them through what he had already figured out.

"So any serious patrol could cover most of the uninhabited lands. The bandits wouldn't find any refuge there. After pulling off a hit like what they did, there's only one safe place to fall back to." Shikamaru paused and glanced at both his companions. "No Man's Land. The stretch of land bordering Wind, Rain, and Steppe. Since none of the countries are in total control of it, no one can police it properly. It's just the sort of place outlaws would hang around in, because no one can follow them in without causing an international incident. Even us, I'm afraid."

Shikamaru put his blade on the ground and brought it around the earlier lines in an arc. "As we approach, we're going to skirt the border of the border. We'll get a look at that, as well as the land between the valleys. If we don't see any signs of the bandits, we circle around to Jiiya's manor. We'll consult with him, get a more detailed analysis of where he's looked and where he hasn't, and then go from there."

Choji nodded, taking it in. "Mh. You really _did_ think this through."

"You've got us coming up from the south," pointed out Ino as she studied the map. "Is that why we're headed southwest now?"

"There is a large mountain range due east of Jiiya's lands. But south of that, there are several low passes. It'll be quicker to go southwest from here, cut through the mountains where they are narrowest, then go north through Steppe's steppes. No point in dragging this mission any longer than it has to be."

Choji smirked at his friend's pun. "Nice one."

"Okay then!" Declared Ino as she abruptly stood up. "A plan worthy of the Ino-Shika-Chou team! Lets get moving." Without waiting for the others, Ino shouldered her travel pack and disappeared into the trees.

"_Shika_-Ino-Chou," Choji corrected with a smirk. "Don't worry Shikamaru. She'll get used to you giving the orders eventually."

Shikamaru lazily got up and lightly flicked Choji's shoulder. "Eh, whatever…"

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Late morning, four days later, in Steppe Country…

Standing at the peak of a windswept hilltop, Shikamaru, Ino, and Choji, surveyed the scenery. The whole landscape was composed of north-south running ridges, extending as far as the eye could see. The ridges were jagged and windswept, covered mostly with prairie grass. Creeks frequently ran through the valley between crests, and there were scattered outcroppings of trees. But the groves consisted entirely of cottonwood and occasional willows, both far cries from the towering forests of Fire Country. Despite the apparent harshness of the environment, the trio could pick out multiple signs of at least seasonal human habitation.

"Yup," confirmed Ino, holding a spyglass to her eye. "Rain."

Choji wiped some sweat from his forehead and glanced up at the cloudless sky. "I wish…"

"You sure?" Shikamaru asked, without much enthusiasm.

Ino laughed as she tucked the spyglass into a side-pouch of her travel pack. "It's a fortress with four lines painted in bright blue on lookout tower. I'm pretty sure it's Rain."

"Hm," Choji muttered. "That makes it the third outpost we've seen."

"So much for the disputed territory," Ino joked.

"I would say the Rain Country has been making a power grab," Shikamaru muttered. "But those outposts don't look recent. They've had that land for a while. So either Jiiya sent an old map with the mission, or Steppe Country just doesn't want to admit that the Rain controls that territory."

Choji wiped his forehead again. "So what does this do to our plans?"

Shikamaru sat down and stared lazily at the sky. "Not much," he replied at length. "The bandits could still be taking refuge in Rain Country. And this part of Rain Country is a lot closer to the missing settlement than the official border. We'll keep skirting this border, and keep a look out for any sign of the bandits."

"What kind of sign?" Bluntly interjected Ino. "If the we assume Rain is actively sheltering the bandits, they won't be sitting out in the open."

"We're not assuming that, Ino," Shikamaru retorted. "You assumed that. I only mentioned the bandits could be on that side of the border. They could still just be outlaws that cross the border to avoid Steppe pursuit." Shikamaru sighed and went quiet for a moment. "Look, with what we know now, we can't say one way or another where the bandits will likely be. So we keep our eyes on both sides of the border. And we keep our heads down. We don't want to get spotted by any Rain lookouts."

Ino raised an eyebrow. "Any reason for that, or just general secrecy?"

"General secrecy," Shikamaru replied as he stood up. "Dealing with other ninjas is troublesome, and I'd just rather not have to do it."

"Now _that's_ the Shikamaru we both know and love!" Proudly proclaimed Ino.

Choji just smiled.

"C'mon," Shikamaru muttered, shaking his head. "Lets keep moving."

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Northeast, five hours later…

"Well," yelled Ino, trying her best to be heard as she leapt through the air. "You said you wanted rain, Choji."

"Me and my big mouth," Choji muttered.

Shikamaru remained silent, but did smirk. His amusement, however, was fleeting.

The clouds had looked innocent enough when they first appeared nearly an hour earlier. Not even Shikamaru had noticed them at first. But they quickly developed into a line of full-fledged thunderstorms, stretching along the entire horizon. After the rain started, Shikamaru, Ino, and Choji barely had time to get their travel cloaks on before they were engulfed by the deluge. Ordinarily, Shikamaru would have called a halt in such a situation. But as it was, the trio hurried on.

Before the clouds opened up, the trio had sensed something unusual. An odd smell on the breeze and a faint echo through bedrock of the ridges. Naturally, they moved in to investigate. But then came the rain.

"How much farther do you think it is?" Choji yelled out.

"Can't be much farther," Ino replied. "I think…"

The three ninjas landed on a ridge in rapid succession. Ino jumped forward immediately, while Choji paused for half a second to gauge the distance in the rain. Shikamaru landed in crouch, and took a quick look around.

"Hey!" He yelled at his comrades. _Hey_!"

Twenty meters down the way, Ino landed and looked back.

"It's back here!" Shikamaru gestured with a wave of his arm, then carefully began to pick his way down the slope of the ridge.

Ino grabbed Choji as he landed beside her and pointed back to Shikamaru's position. The chubby ninja nodded, and the two of them made their way back on foot.

"Oi," Choji muttered a moment later as he and Ino came up behind Shikamaru. "I can barely see anything in this weather."

"Yeah," replied Shikamaru without any enthusiasm. The Chuunin was crouched down with a grim expression on his face. "It is troublesome…"

Beside Choji, Ino caught sight of what was beyond Shikamaru and stopped in her tracks.

"I'll say," Choji agreed. "It's like…" Choji trailed off. There was a long moment of silence before he spoke again. "Uh, this that… Normal."

"Of course it is, Choji," Shikamaru deadpanned. "Cows turn themselves inside-out all the time…"

Again, all three ninjas went silent. Before them lay a multitude of stripped cattle carcasses. The hides had been torn off, as had much of the meat, but not entirely. And not uniformly.

"Wha… What happened here?" Asked Choji, horrified.

Shikamaru, crouched in front of an upturned ribcage, responded in a level tone. "Feeding frenzy."

Unnerved, but unafraid, Ino began wandering forward. "Then you've seen something like this before?"

Shikamaru remained where he was, and stared intently though the mangled corpse before him. "I've seen a few kills, down on the family range. Every so often a jaguar will sneak in will bring down a doe, maybe a fawn, then drag it off. They eat their fill, sometimes over a couple of days, then leave what's left. After that, the scavengers take over. From there, the carcass is slowly stripped clean." Shikamaru paused, letting the rain fill the silence. "This is a fresh kill. The predator had its fill, but the scavengers haven't even noticed it yet."

Ino looked back through the downpour. "Shikamaru, I can see at least 15 of them from here. What kind of predator would kill this much?"

"I don't know."

"Shikamaru…"

"Calm down, Choji," Shikamaru ordered. "If it was still here, we would have known about it by now. Just search the perimeter, and look for any sign of what did this."

"Shikamaru," Ino interjected, "In _this_ rain? There's not going to be anything to find! The trail is cold already!"

"We don't know that yet."

"Choji and I passed a watering trough coming here, and there's a lean-to right over there." Ino gestured angrily as she approached her teammate. "We're standing in a cattle path! The grass here was worn away, and the land wasn't exactly bone dry before. Look around, Shikamaru. This was mud before. Now it's soup! Everything is already washed away. Even the blood is half gone!"

Shikamaru stood up, and glared at Ino. "Just. Look."

Surprised by the intensity in the Chuunin's eyes, Ino took a step back. "All… Alright. But you know we're not going to find anything…"

Shikamaru turned away. "We're going to find something," he muttered to himself. "But we're not going to like what it is…"

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The same, dusk…

"Nothing," Shikamaru muttered. He and his two teammates were hunkered around a small fire under the lean-to. Outside, the rain had ended, and the sun's dying rays painted the sky a haunting mixture or red and orange. Shikamaru, with his back to the lean-to's wall, was gazing through the fire at the landscape beyond. "Absolutely nothing."

Ino, still wrapped in her cloak, sighed. "I told you we wouldn't find anything. That rain… If we had just gotten there one hour earlier…"

"Then we might be out there as well." Of the three, Choji had taken the scene the worst. Completely without appetite, he stared listlessly into the fire.

"Don't think like that, Choji."

Ino glanced at the squad leader. "We're all thinking that, Shikamaru. We found 38 dead cattle out there. And we heard whatever killed them from klicks away. This wasn't something natural."

Silence fell over the trio.

"We should have found something," Shikamaru muttered, thinking out loud. "A pack large enough to do that would have a trail too big to be washed away by a few minutes of rain. We should have come across some sign of their approach. Or of how they left… Damnit, a feeding frenzy shouldn't have been that clean!"

Choji grimaced at his friend swore. When Shikamaru didn't continue, he reluctantly spoke up. "Maybe it was a demon…"

Shikamaru scowled. "Ino, you were there when the old man did his summoning bit. Anything here resemble what happened then?"

Ino shook her head. "Nope. Not a bit. But I can't say there wasn't one around."

"Or more than one," Choji added.

"But why?" Asked Ino. "Demons don't eat. And why have a demon attack a herd of cattle? And why disappear so quickly, with the bodies still there?"

"Maybe he didn't like rain," Choji weakly offered.

Shikamaru exhaled slowly, and the trio went quiet again.

"So do we assume this is the same thing that happened to the village?" Asked Ino, finally speaking up. "Strictly speaking, that's what we were commissioned to investigate. Not cattle."

Shikamaru sighed. "I know. But the chance that these two attacks are connected… It's just to high to disregard."

Choji nodded. "So what do we do now?"

"We need to look around when its light," Shikamaru said at length. "In the morning, we'll take another look around. Maybe there's something we missed. But if there isn't… We'll continue our arc. If there have been other attacks like this, we'll notice 'em. When we reach Jiiya's manor… He and I are going to talk. I need to know exactly what his people found in that mining camp, and if anything else like this has been reported. Recently, or in years past. There's got be some sort of clue out there."

"Mh," Ino acknowledged. "Looks like we've fallen in over our heads again. And this time, we don't have Asuma-Sensei to pull us out."

"Yeah, but we've got Shikamaru," Choji added. "He's a Chuunin now. That's gotta count for something…"

"Not nearly enough," Shikamaru whispered to himself. Glancing up, he continued in a normal voice. "Choji, try to get some sleep. Ino and I will take the first watch."

"Both of you?" Choji asked.

"Does anyone have a problem with double watches?" Shikamaru watched as Ino and Choji glanced at each other, and quickly shook their heads. "Good. Until we know exactly what we are dealing with, we all need someone watching our back at all times. We can't afford to split up. Not with only three of us."

In sighed. "Makes you wish they sent you with a full squadron, doesn't it?"

"Makes me wish I had never joined the stupid ninja academy," Shikamaru retorted, looking into the distance. "This whole thing is just too damn troublesome…"

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	3. The Unloved

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Unloved

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Late afternoon, the two days later, at the gates of Jiiya's capitol…

"Hey," Choji observed, looking straight up. "It's starting to rain again."

Ino experimentally held out her hand and then nodded in confirmation.

"Maaaaan…" Muttered Shikamaru.

Following their stay in the lean-to, the trio had spent the morning searching the scene for any signs of what had attacked the cattle. They found two carcasses they had missed in the night, but that had been it. Near nightfall, while continuing the original patrol, they spotted another kill site. It was, however, deep in the disputed territory. Shikamaru had spent considerable time studying it through a spyglass, and concluded the site was several weeks old. Not wanting to violate contested territory, and cynically figuring that the old site would be just as empty as the recent one, Shikamaru made the decision not to investigate the site, and to continue on the patrol. Neither Ino nor Choji questioned his decision.

On the second day the trio veered back to Jiiya's capitol. The patrol was uneventful, and by mid afternoon they had come out of the highlands and ran into one of the main roads. Shikamaru promptly called a halt to his team's usual jumping, and had them approach the capitol on foot. Again, none of the team complained. Having each pulled double watches the previous nights, none of them were feeling especially energetic.

"Try not to cause a scene," Shikamaru muttered as he finished putting on his cloak. "Just cooperate with the guards, and let me do the talking."

"Aye!"

"Sure thing. But why are we going in the front door?"

Shikamaru sighed and continued walking. "Because I don't want to bother sneaking in. Just stay quiet, would ya?"

As the trio approached the gatehouse, a guard in light armor held out his arm. "Hold up kids," the guard intoned. "You aren't from around here… State your purpose in Hanariau."

Shikamaru pulled the hood of his cloak back slightly so the guard could see his face. "We're here to speak to Lord Jiiya."

"Right," the guard said flatly. "Try again, kid."

"We're here to speak to Lord Jiiya," Shikamaru irritably repeated. "We are from the Village of the Hidden Leaf, and we wish to speak with him about the mission he commissioned of us." As he spoke, Shikamaru pulled the mission scroll out of his travel pack, and shifted his cloak to reveal the Leaf Insignia on his left sleeve.

The guard stared for a moment, blinking. "Oh, uh… I'll go tell him. But…" The guard eased towards the door of the gatehouse. "No warriors are allowed in Hanariau without papers from Jiiya, so you'll have to wait out here for now!" Obviously concerned that the Shikamaru wouldn't take the news well, the guard darted into the gatehouse, shut and bolted the door, and sprinted into the city.

Shikamaru sighed and replaced the scroll in his travel pack.

"Nice going, genius," Ino complained. "We could have snuck in just fine. But now, we get to wait out here. In the rain."

Choji surveyed the brick gatehouse and earthwork walls. "We could still jump this," he flatly stated.

"Shut up," retorted Shikamaru. The Chuunin pulled his hood all the way over his face and casually sat at the base of the wall. "We're waiting here. So just relax, and deal with it."

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

Two hours later, In Jiiya's manor…

"It's amazing how good a hot bath can feel after a week on the road," happily observed Ino.

"A week?" Choji joked from beside her. "We weren't on a _road_ for more than a day and half, total."

Shikamaru glanced at his two comrades, but said nothing.

Lord Jiiya, upon being notified of Shikamaru's arrival, had reacted quickly. Though busy himself, he had sent word that Shikamaru and his team should be brought in immediately and escorted to his manor. The trio were to be given quarters in which to freshen up, and would later attend dinner with Jiiya and his sons. Ino was overjoyed at the prospect of being pampered in the home of feudal lord. Choiji, having more than regained his appetite, was looking forward a lavish meal. Of the three, only Shikamaru was in a somber mood.

With responsibility for the mission weighing on his shoulders, the Chuunin could find no comfort in extravagant niceties. Shikamaru had tried to request an immediate audience with Lord Jiiya, but the servants he had talked to insisted that Jiiya was busy. Not wanting to press the matter with hapless servants, Shikamaru had let the matter drop, and simply waited.

After some time, all three ninjas had been summoned to Jiiya's private dining hall. There, they had been seated on a bench along a small table. A second empty bench was positioned opposite them, and what was obviously Jiiya' chair was placed at the head of the table. Ino, being the kind of girl she was, felt the need to dress up for the occasion, and was wearing V-necked red dress she had borrowed from one of the handmaiden, accessorized with some white leather gauntlets from her travel pack, and her forehead protector tying off her now-skimpy pony tail. Shikamaru and Choji, being the kind of guys they were, had dressed in clean sets of their usual outfits, with Choji forgoing his arm-wrap and headband for the occasion.

"…And the shampoos they have here," Ino continued, more to herself than to Shikamaru or Choji. "Just amazing. One of the handmaiden gave me some hazel oil… Back home, just a vial of this would have cost me two weeks' salary from the flower shop. And she just gave it to me! The whole thing. Like it was no big deal to her."

Choiji grinned as he tucked a napkin into his shirt and tried to look proper. "It's good to know royalty."

Leaning on the table, Shikamaru sighed. "Well I hope you didn't _use_ it all, Ino. We are on a mission, after all."

Ino abruptly got testy. "Don't lecture _me_, Shikamaru! I know how to handle myself on missions. Before the exam, I was the _leader_ of this team after all…" Ino huffed and shook her head dismissively. "I just used a few dabs. The rest of the vial is in my pack for me to take home."

Shikamaru grunted dismissively.

Choji glanced back and forth between his teammates, hoping they would leave it at that. Abruptly, he looked to the door. "Hey do you guys hear that?"

"Yeah…" Muttered Shikamaru.

Ino glanced at her teammates for a moment, then looked sharply at the door.

The door was opened from beyond by a servant, and Lord Jiiya confidently strolled into the room. Jiiya was not the picture of royalty, looking neither regal, opulent, nor foppish. He was, instead, somewhat lanky, with a posture that seemed more in place on a street corner than in great hall. His clothes, exemplified by an open vest which hung halfway to his knees, were of fine cloth, but were not worn in such a way as to showcase their quality. Jiiya was followed by his two sons. Both had inherited their father's build, but neither held his disregard for proper posture.

"Ah," Jiiya proclaimed, walking forward. "Welcome, welcome… I apologize for not seeing to you sooner, but I trust you were well taken care of."

"Oh, yes," replied Ino. Twisting in her seat to face Jiiya, she bowed her head slightly. "Very much so."

"Good, good. Well, then," Jiya grabbed a pitcher from a servant who had entered from another door and hurried to his seat. "Let us begin. The appetizer shall be here shortly."

Choji rubbed his hands together in anticipation.

The elder son, standing next to the table, stopped short. "Father, these can't be ninjas. They're barely more than children!"

"Sit down, Lyiija," said Jiiya before any of the ninja could protest. "And mind your manners to our guests." Jiiya gazed harshly at his son until the young man reluctantly took his seat. Pouring himself a drink, Jiiya continued. "And do observe them. All three bear the Hidden Leaf insignia. As long as they bear that, you should do well not to doubt them."

"Thank you," Ino said with sincerity. "Though we are still the youngsters of the village."

"Indeed," Jiiya muttered after taking a sip. "Indeed. I believe introductions are in order. I am, of course Jiiya Hyrii. My elder son and heir is Jiiya Lyiija. And the quiet lad beside him is Jiiya Trypi. A bit of a rider, and a future tradesman, I should hope." Jiiya chuckled and looked the ninjas over. "Well, I don't expect full names, but for the sake of conversation…"

Shikamaru, sitting at Jiiya's left and making a half-hearted effort to sit up straight, nodded. "Mh. Ino, Choji, and I'm Shikamaru."

"You are, I take it, the leader. A… Chuunin?"

Shikamaru nodded.

At that point, a servant arrived carrying a platter of fried potato slices. The servant graciously placed it on the center of the table and then hurried back to the kitchen. With the platter right in front of him, Choji eagerly picked up his chopsticks and dug in. Ino and Shikamaru knew better than to get in Choji's way, while the two sons watched him eat with a passive interest.

"Rather fat for a ninja," Lyiija muttered to his brother.

Shikamaru held up a hand. "Please, lets not use that word…"

The younger son raised an eyebrow. "He's big boned?"

Ino smirked, glancing sideways at Choji. "How about…. Deceptively plump."

Choji growled, but not loudly enough to be noticed.

"We've been on the road for a few days now," Shikamaru added. "Travel rations are 'travel rations' for a reason. His compliments to the chef, by the way."

"Of course, of course," Jiiya replied. "I just hope he leaves room for the rest of the meal."

Ino grinned. "I wouldn't worry about that."

"So…" The younger son leaned forward, looking over the three ninjas. His gaze lingered on Ino, but only for a second. "I've heard that ninjas begin training young. But they actually send you on missions this early? You don't exactly fit the part yet… I doubt many people take you seriously."

"That guard sure did," Ino quietly responded.

"That can be the point, Trypi. Deception is one of a ninjas strongest weapons," lectured Jiiya. "If they can get others to underestimate them, their job is all the more easier."

"That's almost the way Iruka put it," said Ino, addressing Jiiya this time. "You seem to know quite a bit about how ninjas operate."

Jiiya smiled. "Yes, yes… Well, I have a general understanding. Comes from experience. I've hired Leaf ninjas on… Well, _many_ occasions."

"Leaf ninjas?" Skeptically asked Shikamaru. "When the Village of the Hidden Rain is barely two days away?"

At the mention of the Rain, the elder son scoffed.

Jiiya, acknowledging the response, leaned forward. "Yes, well… I hire Rain ninjas running messages and such, but, for more important assignments… I… Well, I trust the Leaf more than the Rain. They bring fewer agendas with them. They… Have less interest in the area." Jiiya closed his eyes and nodded to himself. Sitting up, he continued in a louder voice. "Besides, Leaf ninjas are generally of higher quality than the Rain. Indeed, I've heard local ninjas dominated your recent Chuunin Competition, did they not?"

"Oh yeah," agreed Ino. "Leaf, Sand, and Sound, and that was it."

"Sand and Sound," repeated the elder son, still not impressed by the guests. "We've also heard they caused quire a row at the competition. Declared open war, more precisely."

The table went quiet for a moment, as even Choji paused in his eating.

"Lyiija…"

"The attack was repulsed," Shikamaru said in a grave tone. "The Sand has already surrendered to us. The Sound is isolated, and have lost their front line warriors. They will be dealt with."

Ino nodded. "It'll take more than killing the Hokage to bring down the Leaf. We'll bounce back." Ino tossed her head to the side. "We're already bouncing."

Lord Jiiya glanced around for a moment, looking for some excuse to break the uncomfortable silence that followed.

The excuse soon came in the form of the main course.

"It's fish," Jiiya informed as some servants began setting plates on the table. "Perch, from my private pond. Small, but quite tender. And when spiced right, and with the proper grains… Delectable. I hope you enjoy it."

"Oh, I will," said Choiji.

"I'll bet," deadpanned the elder son.

As the last meal was set, Trypi leaned forward with some interest. "So were you in Konoha for the Chuunin Competition? The actual competition, I mean."

"Oh yeah," Ino replied while picking away at her meal. "We were actually in it."

"You mean you and Choji," Jiiya interjected between sips of his drink.

"I mean all three of us. We were a team. One of the five Leaf teams to make it to the third round." Ino paused and tossed her head to the side nonchalantly. "Only Shikamaru made it to the final round in the stadium, but…" Ino trailed off with a shrug.

The younger son looked intently at Shikamaru. "So then you were in the Chuunin competition… You only _just_ became a Chuunin?"

Shikamaru glanced at Ino, annoyed with her for letting that fact slip. "Yeah."

The elder son snorted.

"And it was an exam, not a competition." Shikamaru irritably corrected.

Choji, having finished off his plate, nudged, Shikamaru. "Good thing, too," he joked. "Or else you'd still be a Gennin."

"Indeed," said Jiiya, not having heard Choji's comment. "Indeed, indeed… So you three were a squad coming out of your academy. And they kept you together, even after one of you got promoted?"

Choji shrugged. "Well, you don't break up a good team." After saying his piece, he raised his arm to flag down a servant girl for seconds.

"And the three of you," droned Lyiija, "make up a 'good team?'"

"The best," Ino bluntly replied. "There is no team better than the Ino-Shika—" Ino broke off for a moment before reluctantly correcting herself. "_Shika_-Ino-Chou combo."

Lyiija snorted again.

Ino leaned forward and gestured with her chopsticks. "I'm serious. The only one to be promoted from that exam came from our team. And of all the teams that made it to the final round, we were the only one not to have a member injured, hospitalized, or crippled during the exam."

"Ino-Shika-Chou…" Mused Jiiya. "I knew you three looked familiar. Your fathers were on a team together as well, weren't they? Yes, yes… I commissioned missions from them several times when I was younger."

Ino looked at Jiiya with a lopsided grin on her face. "Really?"

"Yes," answered Jiiya nodding to himself. "Very _interesting_ bunch…"

Shikamaru shrugged. "Runs in the families."

With a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth, Jiiya looked fondly at his own sons. "Yes," he said quietly. "Yes, I suppose it does…"

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

Later, in Jiiya' private study…

"Please, take a seat," suggested Jiiya as he walked past Shikamaru and plopped down into a plush chair.

The study, like most such rooms, was cluttered. It consisted of multiple desks, seemingly arranged at random and covered with books. Shelves of different styles covered most walls, and housed various scrolls, artifacts, and trinkets. The only uncluttered section of the wall was occupied by a giant map of the fiefdom. Three meters high and four meters wide, it was made of wood and meticulously carved to match the contours of the land. Jiiya's capitol was in the center of the map, with Rain Country to the north, Wind Country to the west, the rest of Steppe Country to the south and east, and the tip of Fire Country on the far eastern edge.

Shikamaru, thoroughly annoyed, stayed where he was.

Jiiya looked up, not fully appreciating Shikamaru's mood. "I was told you needed to talk with me…"

"About the mission you put us on. I hope what kept you was important."

"No, no," Jiiya shook his head. "Routine matters of state. But had I put them off… For the masses, perception is often as important as reality itself. Had I broken the routine, they would have been unduly concerned." Jiiya shook his head again. "But about the mission… You have found a sign of those responsible?"

"We found a sign of _something_," the Chuunin deadpanned. "40 dead cattle. Slaughtered in less than an hour, and left half eaten on the plains. No trace of what did it."

Suddenly quite pale, Jiiya sat upright.

"Was that how the villagers were found?"

"I…" Jiiya put his fist to his mouth, staring blankly at the wall beyond Shikamaru. "I don't know. But…" Jiiya shook his head and met Shikamaru's gaze. "The traders who reported the incident were… Religiously inclined. They tended to the bodies before leaving the camp. Out of reverence for the dead, they did not divulge the details of what they found. Only that it had been… Unspeakable."

"Where are these traders now?"

"Gone. They were moving south. Likely they are out of the country by now."

"Have you investigated the encampment?"

"We took their word on it. We then mustered additional guards for all the towns, and summoned you."

Shikamaru carefully studied Jiiya's face for a moment. "You said 'but…'"

"There have been rumors," mumbled Jiiya as he closed his eyes. "Hearsay, really, about missing herds. Most cattle are out to pasture now, well away from the ranchers. But according to some, a few herds have gone missing. Not migrating to where they usually do…"

"Then it's certain," Shikamaru concluded. "You've got an infestation of something big."

Jiiya stared past Shikamaru with a haunted look on his face.

Shikamaru wandered over tp the map, and picked up a pointer stick that was in laid in tray below it. "The site we found," he said, drawing Jiiya out of his stupor, "Was here. We spotted, but didn't investigate, anther site in the disputed territory, here. Now…"

Obligingly, Jiiya approached the map and grabbed a second pointer stick. "The panning camp was here. I thought I had that marked in the mission papers…"

"You did. But the map so sent had some discrepancies on it."

Jiiya sighed, wearily. "Some twenty years ago, there was a terrible drought in these lands. The neighboring fiefdom was hit especially hard… By bad luck, a plague struck as well, killing the lord, and any suitable heirs. The capitol was abandoned, and most of the citizens fled."

"And then Rain moved in?"

"It is still supposed to be part of Steppe Country. But when the drought had ended, there was no great incentive for people to move back. It is naturally arid, on the edge of the Garrah Desert, without major rivers… The land was unsuitable for anything but open grazing…" Jiiya sighed and indicated with his pointer. "This section of land was part of the fiefdom, but has since been incorporated into mine. The rest has been nominally claimed by Rain Country."

"Nominally?" Challenged Shikamaru. "We spotted several Rain outposts. I don't see any way you can contest their claim."

"You've investigated the border already? Well, I suppose you must have to have found…" Jiiya shook his head again to realign his thoughts. "I say 'nominally' because they have been as unsuccessful of repopulating the land as we were. They have military outposts, but no cities. No inhabitants. The only people there are those hearty few who never left to begin with."

"And Wind Country hasn't laid any claim to it?"

"No. As you can see, they have little to claim it from. This whole plateau here…" Jiiya gestured to the northeastern corner or Wind Country. "Is the Gaarrah Desert. No one lives there. Not even nomads. I suppose they only control that land because no one else wants it…"

Shikamaru pursed his lips together, scowling. "The Garrah Desert… How'd it get that name?"

"It is the Unloved Land," responded Jiiya in a voice less grave than before. "Several hundred years ago, well before any of today's nations became what they are now, that plateau was one of the great centers of civilization. But then came the first of the great ninja wars, and the civilization crumbled. The cities were abandoned and the citizens fled far and wide. All of the southern nations, Wind, Crystal, Spire, Rain, Steppe, Grass, Fire, Tea… All of can trace part of our roots to that lost nation."

"And the name?" Shikamaru asked, trying to get Jiiya back on topic.

Jiiya grinned, momentarily loosing himself in the retelling of the legend. "The Unloved Land was the land that turned against the people who lived upon it. In a matter of a few years, it went from being lush and well watered to being bone dry."

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow.

"Now," Jiiya continued, excitedly. "Now what I believe happened, is that the weather changed. That of course is obvious, but the reason… Back then, the clouds came from the northern seas, were funneled south, and then ultimately stopped by the Magoi Mountains here." Jiiya indicated a range of mountains near the southwest corner of the map. "All the moisture was then dumped onto this land. But because of a ninja battle… And it must have been a battle unrivaled ever since… Because of a battle, anther mountain range sprung up to the north. So all the water that had once gone to the plateau now falls here," Jiiya slapped the pointer against the map for emphasis. "In what is now Rain Country."

Shikamaru nodded in understanding. "Makes sense."

"For centuries, the land treated its people well. And then suddenly it became uninhabitable. I suppose we would call that hateful, or something similar… But in those days, 'unloved' was the more artful phrasing."

"Makes a _lot_ of sense," the Chuunin muttered to himself, thinking of something else entirely.

Jiiya proudly looked over his map. But his mood evaporated as he remembered the current situation. "But… But we have more pressing matters in the present."

"Yeah we do," Shikamaru agreed, refocusing his thoughts. "But since there is some history to the area, history common to all three kill sites, there may be a connection. Has anything like this ever happened before? This could be some sort of locust-like infestation. Something that comes around every fifty years or so…"

Jiiya shook his head. "No. I know all the lore of my land, past and present, and there has never been anything like this."

Shikamaru sighed and turned his attention back to the map. "Maaaan…"

"I am sorry," Jiiya said quietly. "I did not believe this would be so serious. And, on what I imagine is your first mission…"

"Troublesome," Shikamaru affirmed. "But ninjas don't always know what they are getting into before they're in it. That's just how things go."

"Is this still the mission I paid you for?"

Shikamaru sighed. "Technically, yes. Unless you deliberately deceive us, we can't bail on you halfway. You gave us the mission as you saw it…"

The two stared at the map for a long moment.

"When I commissioned your father's team, it was three of them, led by a Gounen." Shikamaru ignored the mispronunciation. "All you have with you is two Gennin. Are you going to need reinforcements?"

"I'm not sure if there are reinforcements available," Shikamaru bluntly replied. "If there were, I wouldn't have been sent without a full squadron. And it would be hard to convince them to send me additional forces if I can't give them a firsthand description of what I'm going to be up against."

"But you have—"

"A first hand account of what it leaves behind. Not what it actually does, or how it does it, or what 'it' actually is. Until I know for sure that the enemy outclasses me, I am categorically expected to be able to deal with it." Shikamaru sighed. "That's just the way it is."

"Then nothing changes?"

"Not yet," Shikamaru muttered. "But if we could send a message to Konoha—"

"The wire to Fire Country is not secure, but I will send one _my_ messengers," Jiiya instantly agreed.

Shikamaru nodded. "I'll write up a scroll tonight. Tell them what we found. That the mission is bigger than what was commissioned, that we are investigating exactly what it is, and that we may need backup if things turn out poorly."

Jiiya nodded back. "I'll have ink and a scroll sent to your quarters. And some wax for a seal." Jiiya paused for a moment. "So do you know what your next move is?"

"Investigate," Shikamaru replied. "I don't suppose you know where any of the kill sites your people have talked about are?"

"No," Jiiya muttered. "No, thus far it is just hearsay passing from town to town. I've not heard where they were from."

"Then we head out at random. Where, I'm not sure yet. The three sites we know of are pretty spread out. We can't say yet if they are centered around any one point… And there could be more beyond the ones we know of. We just have to head out and find more information."

"Yes…"

"And find me a comprehensive map of your land, and bordering areas. Everything shown on this one if you've got one. If we find anything, I want to mark it down as accurately as possible. And the more references to landscape and all that, the better." Shikamaru paused for a moment. "And try to find out more about the rumors. Track it down to its source. That may lead us to more kill sites."

"If I do that," Jiiya said slowly. "Then it will lead the people to believe the rumors are true."

"They _are_ true."

"Yes, yes… But if the people know that, it will scare them."

"They should be scared. I am…"

"But you obviously do not rule a kingdom… When the people are scared, things just tend to go poorly. They need to be reassured that they are safe. That is why they accept my rule. Because _I_ keep them safe."

Annoyed again, Shikamaru looked at Jiiya. "But right now, against this, you can't. They have to accept that."

"They don't, and they won't," Jiiya corrected. Taping his chin, he walked away from the map. "Not if they think I'm doing nothing…"

Shikamaru remained silent, expecting Jiiya to continue.

"Ninjas normally work in the shadows, right?" Jiiya prompted, abruptly twirling around. "This time, _don't_. When you come near a town, visit it. Be visible. Let the people know that you are here, and you are working on the problem. The people will accept the danger, so long as it is transitory."

"So you'll track down the source of the rumors."

"Yes," affirmed Jiiya. "Yes, and I will muster more guards, as well. I can spare enough to patrol the lowlands, at the very least. I have them patrolled already, but I can do so more visibly and consistently."

"Why haven't you already done that?" Shikamaru asked.

"Because doing so wouldn't deter bandits from attacking highland settlements. Even in the most dire situations, I can't guarantee order outside the valleys. The highlands stay orderly because it isn't worth anyone's time to disrupt them. If someone actually decided to, then…" Jiiya trailed off. "Then the most effective way to deal with them is to commission a team of ninjas."

Shikamaru was quiet for a moment as he sorted out his thoughts. "So you already sporadically patrol your valleys. So far, nothing has happened there. Putting more patrols there…"

"Will do nothing but comfort the people. The real work is still up to you and your team. I'm sorry, but my forces are not equipped to handle more than that."

"I guess I expected as much." Shikamaru sighed and took one last look at the map. "_Maaaaaaan_…"

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o


	4. Just Close Your Eyes

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

Just Close Your Eyes

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

Late afternoon, two days later, north of Jiiya's capitol, approaching the border with Rain Country and the disputed lands…

"No!" Muttered Ino as she looked up at the sky. "No, no, no, no, no…"

"At least it waited," Shikamaru said half-heartedly. "It'll be dark in three hours anyway…"

"Shikamaru, are you _sure_ we haven't crossed the Rain border?" Asked Choji as a few raindrops began sprinkling down. "I mean, really, _really_ sure?"

Since leaving Jiiya's capitol, the ninjas of team 10 had spent two days of uneventful patrolling. They started off heading north over the highlands, but had since veered westward as they zigzagged their course around the highland peaks. Though their search had been as thorough as the terrain allowed, all they had found were unwatched cattle herds and the occasional clan farm.

"I'm sure," Shikamaru wearily answered. "We're just seeing thunderstorms. The afternoon heat lifts up the air, and then whatever water it didn't drop in Rain Country, it drops on us."

"So then we _can_ blame Rain Country for this?"

Shikamaru chuckled.

"Damnit, I just took a bath two days ago! I _can't_ get muddy _again_!"

"Relax Ino," Shikamaru chided. "We can call it quits for the night. We weren't going to see much else anyway…"

Ino perked up in the abrupt manner only she could pull off. "Oh! So you've given up on reaching Taruji Valley tonight?"

"I gave up on that about noon. We lost too much time trying to look through those gullies this morning. I can't believe we thought cattle might have actually wandered into anything that overgrown…"

Ino and Choji exchanged surprised glances.

"Then why didn't you say that earlier?" Demanded Choji.

"That the cattle wouldn't have wandered in?"

"That we weren't rushing to Taruji Valley!"

"Oh." Shikamaru shrugged. "I figured it was obvious. Didn't feel it was worth mentioning."

Choji gave his friend a long, withering look.

"So then," Ino said in wry tone. Stretching out her arms, she looked around the surrounding landscape. "I guess that means we should look for a place to camp before the rain really comes down. I remember we had passed a ridge with this nice overhang in it. If we just backtrack a few…" Ino abruptly trailed off and ceased stretching.

Choji and Shikamaru instantly took notice of the change in Ino.

"What is it?" Shikamaru gravely asked.

Ino slowly raised her arm and pointed to the south. "Do you two see that?" She asked.

Shikamaru squinted and followed her gaze.

Choji, meanwhile, had the presence of mind to pull a spyglass out of his travel pack. Putting his to his eye, he carefully surveyed the sky.

"What are we looking for?" Asked Shikamaru, not seeing anything immediately out of place.

"I thought I saw something waver. Something in the air…"

Shikamaru glanced at Ino. "It could have been the rain. All those falling drops could have caused a shimmer."

"It's smoke," Choji broke in, causing both his teammates to glance his way. Still looking through the spyglass, he nodded imperceptibly. "I see a thin wisp of smoke."

Shikamaru scowled. "How thin?"

"Very thin," Choji replied. "Its barely there at all."

Ino gave Shikamaru a meaningful look. "Minimal smoke. They're using dry wood. And with the way its been raining…"

Shikamaru grimly nodded. "They would have made a conscious effort to find dry wood. Which means they didn't want to be noticed."

Choji swallowed nervously as he lowered his spyglass. "I barely saw any smoke. They found some _really_ dry wood…"

"Meaning they know what they're doing, and they're good at it," Ino concluded. "These may be our guys."

"We don't know that yet," Shikamaru argued. "We've jumped to conclusions too many times already on this mission."

"But they are in Steppe Country," Choji countered. "In land we just crossed today."

"And people acting this way, in this land is suspicious in and of itself. I know. I was getting there."

Ino nodded. "Okay then, fearless leader. What's our move?"

With the rain coming down around him, Shikamaru stood motionless in contemplation. "Stow your packs. We go in quiet. Operation Eagle Eye."

Ino and Choji both nodded in understanding.

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

Nearby, twenty minutes later…

With her cloak drawn tightly around her, Ino crept to the crest of the hill. Kneeling beside some brush, she glanced around. Spotting Shikamaru a few meters down the ridge, she instantly caught his eye. The Chuunin silently put down his spyglass, and made several gestures with his hands. Ino responded with a gesture of her own, indicating she understood the coordinates. As she did, Choiji finished coming up the hill and knelt beside her.

Ino glanced at Choiji, who nodded in affirmation.

She then glanced back at Shikamaru, who did likewise.

Ino nodded back, and then faced forward. For a long moment, she peered across the landscape. In the gray-blue of the storm, she could begin to pick out the ridges, but not even the faintest hint of the campfire they had spotted earlier. Steeling herself nonetheless, she took a deep breath and closed her eyes. "Team Shika-Ino-Chou," she mouthed, not making a sound, "Operation Eagle Eye… Commencing…" Ino formed a quick series of seals with her hands, and then fell limp.

Choiji effortlessly caught his teammate, causing less noise than the gently falling rain. Looking over at Shikamaru, he gave a single nod of his head.

The Chuunin again nodded in acknowledgement, and resumed his watch.

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

Nowhere…

As she always did when she used her mind transfer techniques, Ino felt a stinging cold. It was sharp, penetrating, and it didn't dull with time. It was also, she assured herself, completely psychosomatic. In truth, she felt nothing, her mind being devoid of any sensory input. But that didn't stop her subconscious from trying to interpret what her senses weren't telling her.

Ino blocked out the sensations as best she could. According to the coordinates Shikamaru had signaled to her, the encampment was nearly a klick away. The mind transfer technique was normally slow. Even longer in her head than in reality. But this time, farther than she had ever tried before and without a clear line of sight to her target, Ino expected it to feel like an eternity.

If it would work at all.

But Ino trusted her commander. Shikamaru wouldn't have given her coordinates unless he was sure they were accurate. And she remembered the look in his eye when he gave his orders. There wasn't any doubt in his mind that Ino could do what was asked of her. She trusted that faith.

For all the ribbing that went on between them, for all the jokes and snide comments and self-depreciation, neither Ino nor Shikamaru nor Choji had ever failed when the team was at stake…

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The lee of a ridge, not long after…

Ino felt sensation ebbing back to her, but it was a far cry from the jolt she usually felt when she entered a body. Ino instantly realized that she was in trouble. She couldn't control her new body unless she could feel it. Both her father and her sensei had drilled her in the art of adapting to whatever situation she jumped into, but she would be much less believable if there was a lag time when the body was unresponsive.

Ino desperately reached out to assert her control over the body. As she did, she felt the consciousness of her host try to push back. Reacting with everything she had, Ino swarmed the consciousness. Obviously inexperienced in psychic combat, the conscious quickly drew back into the recesses, leaving Ino in sole possession of the body.

But access to senses was still slow in coming.

Ino belatedly realized that she was sitting down and slumped forward. There was a hand on her shoulder, obviously placed out of concern for her wellbeing. Her vision was still murky.

"I'm alright," she mumbled, trying to brush the hand away. "I just… Drifted off for a moment." Barely understanding her own voice, Ino tried to continue. "I'm just tired, is all."

"What's wrong with her?" The voice wasn't from next to Ino. It was quiet, and to Ino it sounded like it was coming through an echo chamber. But she could hear a note of concern in it. And fear. And anger.

"Its gotta be them," another voice replied. This one was closer, from whomever had their arm on Ino's shoulder. "I don't know how or when, but… Aw, damn, her forehead's cold. Get some water!" The voice barked.

Ino swayed, still feeling vertigo. There was an odd sound that she knew she had heard before, but couldn't place. Ino tried to pull back, realizing that the plan was falling apart.

"C'mon," said the second voice, as Ino felt someone tapping her cheek. The contact helped reorient her, and Ino began to make out a face in front of her. "Don't do this, Temari," the voice continued. "Come back to us."

Ino's eyes abruptly widened, and the center of her vision cleared just enough for her to make out the I-insignia of the Sand.

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

The same, moments later…

"She's coming back," Gaara observed.

Kneeling next to his sister, Kankurou laid his hand on Temari's shoulder. "Don't move too fast, sis. We're still not sure what hit ya…"

"Whaaa…"

Kankurou smirked. "Articulate, ain't she?"

Lying flat on her back, Temari blinked and tried to reorient herself. Both her brothers were looking down on her, Kankurou from her side, and Gaara from a few meters away. Their small campfire was still lit off to her side, and a sand shell was still arching over them to block the rain. The only thing out of place was her lying on the ground.

"What happened?" Temari asked.

"You blacked out," Kankarou said in reply. "You just lurched forward, mumbled a bit, and then fell back."

Temari slowly sat up, putting her hand to her head. "Was it her?"

"If it was, we haven't seen any other sign of them," Kankurou replied. Leaning back on his haunches, he glanced idly around the campsite. "And thinking about it, that really doesn't seem like her style. Everything else we've seen has been an outright kill. Why try some covert poison attempt? It's not like she'd gain from it."

"I haven't been bitten," Temari mumbled. "Or stung or anything else…"

Kankarou scowled. "Did you feel anything before blacked out?"

Temari sat still for a moment. "No. I just, suddenly… Found myself on the ground." The kunoichi's expression hardened as she abruptly stood up. "Come on. We're scouting the area."

"It wasn't her," Garra quietly insisted.

After a moment's hesitation, Kankurou decided to back up his sister. "But it may have been someone else. There's gotta be some reason Temari passed out, unless you think she just ate some spoiled rations…" Kankurou's last comment was made in jest, but he wasn't interested in seeing his brother's reaction to it. Even as he spoke, he picked up Karasu and leapt away.

Temari shook her head. After rolling her shoulders to get rid of any lingering stiffness, she walked to the side of the sand shell and retrieved her fan. "Douse the fire, Gaara," she said. "Then help us scout."

As Temari walked past him, Gaara abruptly grabbed her arm. "Temari," he began. "You are all right?"

Startled, and surprised at seeing what could pass for concern in her brother's eyes, Temeari remained silent for a moment. "Yeah, Gaara," she reassured as best she could. "I'll be fine."

Gaara kept his gaze on Temari, but reluctantly released her. Temari lingered a moment longer, then abruptly whirled her fan around and disappeared. After another moment, Gaara turned and walked out into the rain. As he did, the sand shell fell away, snuffing out the fire.

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A nearby ridge, ten minutes later.

Hiding between a rock outcropping and some withered brush, Shikamaru, Ino, and Choji all breathed a sigh of relief. None of them, however, made any move to break cover.

"That was close," Choji whispered. "That fan girl almost saw us."

Shikamaru slumped against a rock. "I can't _believe_ how troublesome this mission is becoming…"

Ino leaned against another rock with equal exhaustion. "What idiot ever came up with Operation Eagle Eye?" She muttered.

Shikamaru and Choji glanced her way.

"Fine, I'm an idiot," she conceded. "Lets just scratch it from the plan-book and move on."

"Move on to what?" Choji asked. "There's no way we can get away from them. Not all three of them."

Ino leaned forward. "Maybe we can get away in the rain."

"Ino," Shikamaru muttered in irritation. "The rain is stopping."

Somewhat surprised, Ino glanced up. Though the brush and rocks were still dripping, the rain had mostly stopped and the clouds had broken in a few places. "Oh…"

Shikamaru sighed wearily. Closing his eyes, he sat into a crouch, and put his fingertips together.

"So running is out, and so is a straight fight…" Choji took a deep breath. "We… Could try Operation Tail—"

"No," Shikamaru interrupted.

"Operation Firefly?" Ino suggested.

"Now really isn't the time for _another_ half-assed scheme that we've never tried, Ino."

Ino scowled at the rebuttal.

"Operation Head Games?"

"No."

"The Barrel Down Maneuver?"

"No."

"Well if we have to fight, I do have the red—"

"No!" Shikamaru said again, more forcefully.

Ino and Choji went quiet for a moment.

"Okay then," declared Ino. "I guess that means it's time for Plan B!

Choji buried his face in his hands. "Oh, no, not Plan B…"

With his eyes still closed, Shikamaru cocked an eyebrow. "Actually…"

Ino and Choji both stared at their commander with quizzical expressions on their faces.

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o


	5. Fire in the Sky

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Fire in the Sky

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Nearby, five minutes later…

"Nothing," muttered an exasperated Kankurou. "I haven't seen any sign of anything. And now, I'm soaking wet. How can it start raining again here, with the sun shining right over there!" The ninja angrily gestured to the west, were the clouds had broken completely. "I was told that when it rains the whole sky is supposed be covered. This place is nuts!"

"Get over it," Gaara irritably retorted. Looking at Temari, he continued. "There was someone out there."

"I know. I heard something too. But between the rain, and the shifting breezes…" Temari trailed off with a shrug. "I've never had to track anything in weather like this."

After unsuccessfully completing the patrols, the three Sand ninjas had reconvened on a broad hilltop overlooking where their camp had been. The rain had been spotty during the search, but looked to be mostly clearing up. Where the clouds were breaking, the sky was beginning to change color for the sunset.

"Sure," continued Kankurou. "Y'know, Temari, maybe it was the _weathe_r that did you in. I've heard it can do strange things to people. Really messes with your system…"

Temari shook her head and sighed, while Gaara remained motionless.

"Or it may have been that mouse thing you ate. I did warn you about that. There's something not right about eating mammals. They've got fleas, and lice, and uiggg…" Kankurou shuddered in disgust. "They're just walking disease pods. Me, I'm sticking to good old reptiles. Give me a grilled snake or monitor fillet any day." The ninja looked across the landscape in disgust. "Man, I hate this place."

Gaara turned his gaze to his brother. "You really need to stop talking."

Kankurou took a hasty step back and raised his hands. "Okay, okay. Sorry. But it's not like I was wasting time we could have been using for something else."

"No," Temari corrected. "We need to get moving."

Kankurou sighed audibly. "In this screwy place? C'mon, it's almost night. Just what do you think we're going to—"

Gaara abruptly held up his hand. "Wait. I hear—"

"_Temari_!"

Temari and her brothers all whirled at the sound of her name. A lone figure, walking as casually as if he were walking down a street, was approaching from the west.

"Temari," he repeated. "Is that really you? Imagine! Meeting you all the way out here. What are the odds? I haven't seen you in almost three weeks. You haven't written, or anything!"

The sheer absurdity of the situation left the Sand ninjas at a loss. As the figure crested the hill, Temari and her brothers just stared at him. But then he got close enough to be recognized despite the late day shadows.

"Shikamaru!" Temari blurted in disbelief.

Only slightly slower on the uptake, Kankurou's eyes widened. "Oh, crap!" The boy tried to rush forward, but it was already to late.

With his shadow branching away from him in three directions, Shikamaru ceased walking forward. "And I thank you for that," he said in a serious tone. "Really."

Caught in Shikamaru's Shadow Imitation, Temari felt fear start to overtake her. Being caught by the technique had unnerved her in the Chuunin Exam, but out here, not knowing her attacker's motive, it terrified her. "What are you doing here?" She managed to gasp out.

"That's a question you'll be answering," Shikamaru coldly replied. "In a few seconds…"

From off to the side, Gaara let out a strangled gasp.

"Gaara!" Kankurou tried to look towards his brother, but was restrained by the Shadow Imitation.

"Okay!" Came a somewhat distance voice. "**Meat Tank**!" Balled up and spinning, Choji burst out of patch of brush.

Unable to move, Kankurou could do nothing but watch as Choji headed straight towards him. "Oh, _crap_…"

The Shadow Imitation released Kankurou a fraction of a second before Choji hit. The Sand ninja was bowled over and sent sprawling. As Kankurou tried to push himself back up he was tackled again, this time by Choji in his normal form. The Leaf ninja ripped Karasu off Kankarou's back, and began pummeling the puppet.

Left to himself for a moment, Kankurou got to his knees. Putting a hand to his head to steady himself, he watched Choji beat up the still-wrapped puppet. "…The hell?" The ninja stood up fully, and then once again found himself unable to move. Kankurou's eyes widened as he remembered about Shikamaru.

Choji, meanwhile, grabbed a small boulder, heaved it out of the ground, and slammed it on top of Karasu. Brushing his hands and breathing heavily, he walked back to Shikamaru. "Wow," he muttered to the Chuunin. "It actually worked."

"I figured it would," Shikamaru quietly responded. Turning his attention back to the captured ninjas, he continued in a louder voice. "Now then, lets start answering some questions."

"What did you do to Gaara?" Temari breathlessly demanded. "What happened to him?"

Shikamaru held up a hand, forcing his captives to do the same. "Okay, see, _I _am the one who has you in the Shadow Imitation, and so _I_ will be asking the questions around here. But, as a gesture of good faith…" Shikamaru forced the ninjas to look to the right, giving Temari and Kankurou a glimpse of their brother. Gaara was no longer in the Shadow Imitation, but was staring forward with eyes wide and mouth open, completely unresponsive.

Kankurou gaped at the sight. "What… What did you do to him?"

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

Nowhere…

This time, Ino burst into the host body suddenly and completely. Instantly, she lashed out at her host. But unlike Temari, this consciousness did not melt away from the assault. Instead, it pulled back and convalesced defensively.

"Waaagh!" It cried out. "No! Get out of my head! Get out of my head," it repeated in a weaker voice.

Ino scoffed. "Yeah, that'll convince me." Though not overly concerned with taking control of the body immediately—the plan only called for the body to be out of enemy control—Ino wasted no more time in attacking again.

"Mommy!" Her host cried out as it pulled away. "Mommy, help me!"

Surprised, Ino slowed her attack for a moment. "You're actually calling for your 'Mommy?' That is a riot. I've got to tell that one to Dad…"

Despite the letup, the conscious continued to fall back into the recesses of the mind. Content at driving it out of control, Ino stayed where she was. But as she was consolidating herself, she felt a ripple flow through the mind.

Then something laughed. It was the deep maniacal laugh of something eager for stimulation. And it seemed to come from everywhere.

"Aaaaah," Ino observed. "You must be 'Mommy.'"

Another presence seeped out of the mind's recesses. Completely unlike a normal consciousness, it was all enveloping. "Little girl," it said. "I am no mommy. I… Am Shukaku."

"Hi," Ino replied, figuring this was what Shikamaru had warned her about. "I'm Ino. And I…"

"Have no idea who you are dealing with." Shukaku finished. "But thank you. You've driven the child away. Without him _confining_ me to the subconscious, I can take control. For that, I am forever in your debt. I hope that comforts you, on your way to oblivion." Shukaku attacked, swarming Ino from all sides.

"Ha!" Yelled Ino as she squirmed between Shukaku's thrusts. "What makes you think you're in control here? I'm about ready to spank you like the red headed brat you are!"

"What?" Shukaku roared in rage, and thrust at Ino anew. But Ino dodged, even more easily that before. "_Fool_!" Shukaku yelled again. "Do you have any idea what you are up against!"

"Nothing I haven't seen before," Ino grimly replied. "Even if you are a demon, someone really should have warned you…" As she spoke, Ino drew back, and began expanding. "_Never _play mind games against a _Yamanaka_!"

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

The hilltop…

"They're not very good at being interrogated," Choji observed.

"Quite troublesome," Shikamaru agreed. "Now," he said, addressing his captives again, "tell me what you're doing here."

"Why should we tell you anything?" Kankurou defiantly asked.

"Because if you don't, I'll kill you."

Kankurou snorted. "You don't scare me. I saw your fights. Anything you try to do to us, we'll do right back to you."

"Kankurou," Temari warned. "Don't…"

"Choji, give him a blade."

Kankurou's defiance dissipated. "What?"

"Shikamaru," pleaded Temari. "You don't need to do that. Please, we'll talk…"

Walking over to Kankurou, Choji pulled a kunai out of his side holster and offered it to Kankurou. Shikamaru reached out and grabbed air. So did Temari. Kankurou reached out and grabbed the kunai.

Kankurou's eyes darted between Shikamaru and the blade in his own had. "Uh, uh, wait a second. I get the message. We can talk."

Shikamaru smirked. For emphasis, he held up his hand and began twitching a few of his fingers. Wide eyed, Kankurou stared at the kunai that was twirling around his fingers. "Good," Shikamaru said.

Chuckling to himself, Choji turned to walk back to Shikamaru's side. But after a step he stopped short. Hearing a slight buzz, he looked up. The Leaf ninja's face went pale. Choji abruptly sprinted forward and speared Shikamaru. As Shikamaru was driven back, Kankurou and Temari both lost their footing and collapsed in a heap. For their part, Shikamaru and Choji tumbled for several meters.

"Choji," Shikamaru yelled as he shoved his teammate away. "What the hell was that…" The Chuunin trailed off.

There was a beast crouching where he had stood a second before. It was essentially a giant locust, standing a meter high and two and half meters long, with six legs, carapace covered wings on its back, spines articulating every joint, and glistening mandibles dominating its head.

"…About," Shikamaru weakly finished.

The insect hissed, reared down, and leapt forward.

Choji rolled to the side. Shikamaru rolled on his back and sweep kicked the insect in the head. Glancing up, he saw a swarm of similar creatures dropping out of the sky. "_Shit_!" He swore. Dropping the Shadow Imitation, he pulled out a kunai and jumped to his feet. "Choji, fall back to Ino! She's defenseless right now." Shikamaru punctuated his order by throwing his blade through the jaw of the insect he had just kicked.

To his great dismay, the creature spasmed, got up, and leapt at him again. The Chuunin dodged to the side, whipped out another blade, and hacked the still-spasming creature's head off.

Looking around, Shikamaru saw that the swarm was already upon them. Choji was fighting off two of them halfway down the hill, Kankurou was backpedaling away from being triple teamed, and another insect was in midair headed straight towards Shikamaru's face.

A sudden gust of wind blasted the insect from its path.

"So these aren't friends of yours," Shikamaru dryly observed as he fell into a defensive stance.

"They're what we were tracking," Temari replied. Whirling around, she swung her fan in hard downswing to blow away the two of the insects menacing her brother. "At least until you showed up…"

"A truce, then."

Temari spared Shikamaru a quick glance. "For now," she answered with a smirk.

-

"Okay!" Yelled Kankurou in triumph. Shoving the boulder off of Karasu, he activated his chakra strings and the puppet leapt to life. With 30-centimeter blades extending out from the puppet's arms, it lunged past Kankurou and slicked an insect in half. Sensing other target behind him, he spun on his heel, flinging Karasu towards his target. The puppet struck true, driving two blades into the insect.

Hissing slightly, the insect glared at Kankurou.

"Oh, crap…" Kankurou repeated for the third time in as many minutes.

This particular insect was more human than insect. She was humanoid, stood upright on two legs, and had a human shaped head. But she was covered in chitin plates and spines, had covered wings on her back, four arms, and mandibles covering her cheeks. With deliberate motions, she pulled the two blades out of her chest, grabbed Karasu and flung it to the side. "Prepare to die, human fleshbag," she uttered.

"Temari!" Kankurou yelled. "We've got drones!"

-

Ino felt the usual rush of sensations as she reentered her body. The first thing she noticed was that she was face down on the ground. A sure sign of trouble, as team custom had always been to leave her body flat on her back or leaning against a rise of some sort. Her second sign that something was amiss came when something roughly kicked her to the side.

Suppressing a grunt, Ino looked up. A giant insect was pulling it mandibles out of the dirt where she had just been. Beyond that, Choiji was falling backwards, with an identical insect biting his arm. Another was about to cut at his legs from behind him. Two more were in the air looking ready to join in.

Ino instantly let fly with a blade and a shuriken. The blade blew through the joint between the thorax and abdomen of the insect behind Choji. But because of Ino's awkward throwing posture, the shuriken only grazed the insect on Choji's arm. Still, the insect's reaction gave Choji an opening. On instinct, Choji fell to the side. With his free arm he shoved the insect's head out of position, then drove his entire weight on top of the insect. Having directed his fall just right, he also managed to crush the insect that had initially menaced Ino. To avoid the other attackers, Choji rolled after he fell, pushing off the crushed insects for good measure.

The first of the diving insects landed just behind Choji. As he continued rolling, the ninja managed to grab one of the insect's legs. Utilizing his momentum, he swung the insect over him and slammed it into the ground. The insect's leg broke off, letting it bounce away, rattled but not dead.

The second diver was intercepted by Ino. Leaping off the ground, she caught it with a vicious upstroke from a kunai. The slice split the front of the insect's head, and sent it spinning upwards. Ino jumped up after it, knocking it away with a spin kick before it could right itself. Ino landed in a defensive stance, anxiously searching for any insects she hadn't seen yet.

Choji, meanwhile, lunged forward and drove a blade down through the head of the wounded insect. It spasmed, prompting additional stabs.

"Oaky," Ino said, panting. "That was a rude awakening."

"Sorry," Choji muttered, carefully backing up to Ino.

"Not your fault," Ino replied. Noticing the insect she had cut in half was still moving, she forcefully stomped on its head. "Sand do this?"

"I don't think so."

Ino paused a half second to catch her breath and collect her thoughts. "We need to regroup with Shikamaru."

Choji nodded, only just catching his breath himself. "Yeah. Fastball Special?"

-

"More women," Shikamaru muttered as held a pair of blades defensively in front him. "How troublesome…"

"Shikamaru," growled Temari, "if you start with that chauvinistic 'won't hit a woman' crap now, I swear I will _help_ them kill you!"

Temari and Shikamaru stood nearly back-to-back, surrounded by three of the humanoid drones. Temari held her fan at eye level, resting the end of it on her outstretched wrist, ready to swing it at whomever approached first. Both she and her fan already bore clawmarks from the drones' attacks. Shikamaru was yet unscathed, but was showing signs of tiring.

"That's alright," mocked one of the drones, in feminine, wind-like voice. "We won't need any help…"

"After all these years," continued another drone, with an identical voice. Circling the two humans, she locked eyes with Temari "The Sand…"

"And the Leaf," trilled another as she stood before Shikamaru. "Standing together."

"_Dying_ together," finished the first, her mandibles twitching with amusement. "Just as they always have."

"I have no intention of dying with her," Shikamaru dryly retorted, noting that a fourth drone had dropped from the sky to join the circle. Scowling, he noticed it bore the telltale scrapes of Temari's wind blade attacks.

"Hey!"

"Shut up. And stop trying to cut them," the Chuunin ordered. "That's not doing any good against these girls. Just try to _break_ them."

One of drones leaned forward and hissed at Shikamaru.

"Come and try it, fleshbag!" Taunted another.

"Just follow my lead," Shikamaru grimly continued. "We attack on three."

Scowling, Temari nodded once.

The four drones immediately ceased circling and crouched down into defensive stances. Hissing menacingly, they waited for the attack.

Shikamaru locked his gaze on the drone to his right.

The drone hissed back.

A drone facing Temari inched closer.

With her eyes anxiously darting between the two drones facing her, Temari stepped back. "Shikamaru…"

Shikamaru narrowed his eyes, ignoring everything but the drone before him.

The wounded drone to Shikamaru's left let her wings buzz for a second.

"…Any time now…"

Shikamaru leaned down.

The mandibles of the opposing drone began twitching.

"_Idiot!_ Did you drift off!"

Startled by Temari's outburst, the drone Shikamaru was staring down hissed and charged forward.

With a simple flick, Shikamaru sent both blades flying straight up. His hands immediately clamped together, forming a seal. "**Shadow Imitation**," he called out. His shadow shot forward, catching the drone before she could react. Shikamaru dove forward and rolled. The drone dove as well, but because she was standing more upright than Shikamaru, her dive took her up and over him. Shikamaru reached both hands out to the side as he rolled, clipping his left wrist on a tuft of brush. The drone reached out as well, caught both blades in midair, landed, and flung them at the drone that had been to Shikamaru's left. The blade from the drone's right hand struck its target in the cheek. The second blade went wild, Shikamaru's blotched grab having led to the drone having a poor grip on the blade.

Shikamaru dropped the Shadow Imitation, shuffled back and drove his heel into the back of drone's knee. The knee was knocked forward, forcing the drone into a crouch and throwing her head back. Shikamaru followed up by elbowing the base of the drone's skull. The second blow knocked the drone flat on her face, giving Shikamaru the chance to step back and pull some shuriken from his holster. In rapid succession, he put two stars into her neck, and a blade through her head.

Meanwhile, jarred into action by the first drone's hiss, Temari darted forward. Using her wrist to give her fan the initial lift, she twirled it around and hit the drone to left with a vicious chop. The hit, from the short edge of the closed fan, was enough to crack its neck. The drone went limp and fell to the ground.

The last drone began forming seals. With a flick of her wrist, Temari opened the fan completely and then brought it around in a hard backswing. The gale force wind knocked the insect back a step, breaking her concentration. Taking a step back herself, Temari reset her footing and swung the fan back and forth in rapid succession. The drone held her ground for a moment, and then was blown away.

Temari spared a glance Shikamaru's way, thinking she might have bought herself enough time to land one blow on the other insects. To give the boy a fighting chance, if nothing else. But instead of seeing Shikamaru beset by attackers as she expected, she saw him calmly staring down the drone with the blade through her mandible, absently rotating his wrist.

"Damn," the boy muttered through clenched teeth. "That stung…"

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	6. Burn in the Light

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Burn in the Light

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While her sisters were descending upon the humans that were attacking their flock, one drone held back. Her attention was instead drawn to the side of battle, where a lone scourer was crawling unmolested over an odd mound of sand. Upon landing, the drone discovered that the mound was actually a half-shell, surrounding a red haired human. The drone watched as the scourer tried to walk to the edge of the shell, only to be thwarted as the shell grew in front of it.

The drone circled around the spectacle, catching a glimpse of the boy inside the shell. The human's eyes were unfocused, and his mouth hanging open. To the drone, he seemed completely unaware of the scourer trying to get at him.

"Sand?" The drone wondered out loud. "Moving on its own? Have they learned how to…" The drone experimentally reached out, only to have sand rush to form a barrier between her and the boy. "Shukaku," she muttered. "You'd teach your tricks to humans? We never would have thought you'd fall so low…"

The drone hissed an order to the scourer. It obediently dug its mandibles into the sand, easily swallowing a mouthful of it. The drone hissed again, unfettered her wings, and flew away. The scourer did the same, escaping unnoticed from the battlefield.

-

Kankurou ducked to the side as a clawed hand sliced through where his head had been a moment before. The drone's second hand lanced out, forcing Kankurou to dodge again. The boy promptly dodged another strike from the first hand, nearly loosing his footing in the process. As he reset himself, he saw the drone's second set of hands finishing a sequence of seals. "Not again…"

Kankurou leapt up just in time to avoid being skewered by chitin spikes that popped out of the ground. One of the last scourers rushed him in midair. Kankurou stiff-armed the insect, catching it by the side of its head and holding it at bay. With his free hand, he whipped a blade out of his side holster and cut the insect across the eyes. The insect spasmed and fell away.

Kankurou landed in a crouch. "If you insects think skewering Karasu is enough to put me down, you're wrong." Pulling out seven more blades, the Sand ninja let them fall and activated his chakra strings. Kankurou threw out his arms, and the blades splayed away from him. "_Come get some_, ya bug faced freaks!"

The drone that had just attacked him raised her arms defensively, and managed to deflect the first few attacks. But she ran out of arms before Kankurou ran out of blades, and was quickly cut to pieces.

"Aw, crap," Kankurou muttered as the drone reverted into bundles of straw. Not knowing where the impending counterstrike would come from, he pulled the blades back into a haphazard array around him.

But the blades were no shield against the fireball that struck Kankurou from behind. After being knocked off his feet, the Sand ninja covered his face and hit the ground rolling. Even before the fire was out, his instincts told him one of the drones was charging. Flicking his wrist, Kankurou sent four of the blades flying up from the ground.

The drone quickly pulled up short, and snatched one of the blades out of the air. Snapping the string attached to it, she flung it back at Kankurou.

The blade was again snatched from mid air, this time by Ino as she ricocheted across the landscape. After one last one-handed handspring, she finally came to a stop by digging into a rise in the dirt. Instantly, she flung the blade back to where it had came. "Right back at you, you—" Ino broke off, seeing her opponent. "_Gaaah_!"

Taking a step back, the drone neatly caught the blade. "Another one," she hissed in disgust. "They're like cockroaches."

"Looks who's talking!" Retorted Kankurou as he reeled in the seven blades still in his control.

Ino broke away from staring at the drone to glare at Kankurou. "Hey!" She exclaimed. "You're not Shikamaru!"

"I guess blonds aren't that dumb after all," Kankurou joked.

Ino scowled and pulled a blade out of her side holster. "We've got to work on Choji's combat reconnaissance…"

"Die, fleshbags!" Screamed the drone as she charged Kankurou. As she did, another drone flew up from behind her and dove towards Ino.

"Aaaah!" The girl exclaimed again. "They fly, too?"

"Yup," Kankurou muttered as he started swinging his blades at his attacker. "And watch out. They can do jutsus as—" The roar of a fireball cut Kankurou off mid sentence. "Oops. Too late…"

"It was too late the moment you were spotted," the drone threatened as she weaved between Kankurou's blades.

Kankurou didn't respond, turning his full attention to keeping the drone at bay. But despite his efforts, she continued to inch forward. As one blade ricocheted off her arm, she darted toward her prey. Kankurou whirled to the side to avoid her, loosing his footing in the process.

The drone was about to take advantage of Kankurou's fall when a slightly singed Ino caught up to her from behind. In mid air, the Leaf ninja caught the drone's head between her knees. Ino used the drone's neck to check her momentum, then tucked down and tumbled over. Ino landed in a crouch, throwing the drone over her in the process. Ino instantly leapt to the side as the drone that had been chasing her plowed into the ground she had just stood on. With a hiss, the second drone quickly turned to follow.

Still lying on his side, Kankurou saw his opening. The drone was using flight enhanced jumps chase after Ino, and using her wings forced her to lift the carapace that covered her back. Fully intent on chasing Ino, the drone had her back to Kankurou. The ninja flung all seven blades, striking his target just where he needed too. The drone screamed and violently closed her back carapace. Kankurou's charka strings were cut, but the blades were already inside the drone. The drone fell to the ground, spasming in the midst of her death throws.

Kankurou pushed himself up and smirked in triumph. As he did, the drone Ino had thrown sprung up behind him. Kankurou flung himself to the side, letting his chakra strings flutter wildly. The drone dove forward again, forcing Kankurou to continue falling back.

"Give it up, fleshbag! There's no one to help you _this_ time!"

Kankurou slid to a stop. "Wanna bet?" The ninja clenched his fists and pulled back his arms, drawing his chakra strings tight. As he did, the drone was jerked back. Several chakra strings held her legs to the ground, while four others pulled each of her arms away from her body. Kankurou grinned. "I like puppets. But I can do webs just as easy."

The drone hissed and tugged at her restraints. But after a second she stopped. Straining herself, she tried to look behind her.

"This going to be _sooooo_ sweet," Kankurou muttered to himself.

A second later, Choji barreled into the drone. Kankurou's chakra stings held, but the drone's joints did not. Her limbs snapped away as her body was crushed under the Meat Tank attack. After rolling for another twenty meters, Choji popped back to his normal form. Dizzy beyond belief, he immediately fell flat on his face.

Kankurou couldn't help but chuckle. "Not bad, fat-ass."

-

Temari let out a yell of exertion as she heaved her fan upwards. Her shockwave managed to blow back the fireball that had been shot at her, but it had been uncomfortably close. Sensing a change in the wind, she glanced to her left. Another fireball was already on its way. Temari belatedly dispersed the blast with a hard backswing. Even as she did, a third fireball came at her from above. Already overbalanced from her hasty parry of the second blast, Temari had no chance of deflecting the fireball. Falling to the side, she let go of her fan and handsprung away.

Upon landing, Temari looked up, trying to find her attacker.

"Too slow, human."

Chakra flowed into the ground beneath Temari. A fraction of a second later, a patch of chitin spikes sprang out of the dirt. But the fraction of the second was all Temari had needed to gather her own chakra. Using a variation of the balancing technique, she used her chakra to keep herself poised atop the ends of the rising spikes. As soon as the growth stopped, Temari exploded forward, skipping over the spikes and back where she had dropped her fan.

The Sand ninja neatly snatched up her fan and brought it up in a defensive stance. "Regekion sent her worst, didn't she?" Temari growled.

Enraged, the drone hissed vehemently.

Temari whirled on the sound, lashing out with her partially opened fan. The air in front of her wavered, a sure sign of disrupted genjutsu. Heeding Shikamaru's earlier advice about delivering crushing rather than deflectable blows, Temari closed her fan and lunged forward. Her blow struck true, dispelling the last of the genjutsu.

"Damned cow!" The drone spat as she lurched to the side. Her upper left arm was broken above the elbow, but her other arms were still usable. With mandibles open, she lunged back at Temari.

Temari quickly sidestepped the advance. Handling her fan as if it were a staff, she pulled it back, twirled it to change her grip, and then brought it down on the drone in a chopping blow. The drone took the hit on the shoulder and staggered back a step. Temari twirled her fan again and swung at the drone from the side. Reaching two good hands across her body, the drone blocked the blow. The drone spun forward, making sure to keep Temari's weapon pushed to the side as she did. But her offensive was brought to an abrupt halt as Temari managed to rear back and high kick the drone in the face.

The hit knocked the drone back. Temari fell away as well, having overbalanced herself to deliver the blow. But Temari was fundamentally unharmed by the exchange. The drone was rattled. Temari quickly rushed forward and clubbed the drone with an up-swing from her fan. The drone's neck snapped, and Temari delivered a chop to its face just for good measure.

"Too slow, yourself, insect" Temari spat. Looking up, Temari saw a winded Kankurou running up to her.

"Woah," her brother observed as he came up short. "That's something I couldn't have done."

Temari winced, tenderly rubbing the side of her thigh. "It wasn't something I could either. How many more?"

"Just one," Kankurou informed, pointing off to Temari's left.

Following her brother's gaze, Temari saw Shikamaru standing off against the drone he had wounded earlier.

"The other two Leafies are back that way," Kankurou continued, gesturing over his shoulder. "Gaara's still out of it, but he's not hurt. So, are we going to take out that wing-head?"

The twinge of concern Temari felt for Shikamaru quickly faded. "No," she muttered. "Not yet. Not until she knocks that kid down to size."

It took Kankurou a half second to realize what Temari had in mind, but then the boy laughed. "Heh. Payback time…"

-

Shikamaru deliberately stepped to the side, keeping his shoulder squared to his opponent. For her part, the drone faced Shikamaru head on. The human kept his hands in a defensive position, one outstretched ready to block, and the other by his side ready to strike. The drone held all four arms out to her side, poised to do anything and stretching the limits of her opponent's attention. Resolutely, Shikamaru kept his gaze on the drone's eyes. She stared back just as defiantly. Neither spoke.

The drone's right arm darted to the side in a feint. As the Shikamaru reacted, the drone shot forward, with her upper left arm poised to strike. The human took a step to his left to get out of range. But the drone twisted at the last moment, slashing at Shikamaru with her right arms. With unnatural calmness, Shikamaru pushed away with the foot he had just sidestepped with, and just barely dodged the drone's claws.

Shikamaru danced away as the drone's momentum carried her past him. The human spun, utilizing his own momentum to add force to a low sweep kicked aimed at the drone's knees. But the drone dodged easily, jumping over his kick and lashing out again. Shikamaru lost his balance as he dodged, and tumbled over the dirt.

The drone lunged forward, trying to overwhelm the human. Shikamaru managed to avoid being struck, but the constant dodging prevented him from countering, or even of regaining a steady footing.

"Damn it," Shikamaru sputtered as finally managed to roll to his feet.

"I win," the drone hissed, her wounded mouth causing her words to slur together.

"Blinking first doesn't mean I lost," Shikamaru countered. Shuffling backwards in a low defensive posture, he locked gazes with the drone. "Only that I've changed tactics."

The drone deliberately approached her opponent, prompting him to edge away further. "One only changes tactics when the one you're using don't work. It's an admission of defeat. You _know_ I've taken your measure…"

Shikamaru smirked. "Or it could be that _I've_ taken _your_ measure, and I'm just doing this to psych you out."

Shikamaru darted forward, preventing the drone from doing the same. The human lashed out with an open fist, striking the drone in the wrist. The drone instinctively took a step back and returned the favor. Shikamaru deflected the first strike, and then pulled to the side to avoid the next one. By that point, the drone had regained the initiative, and started attacking with all four arms. Shikamaru was quickly reduced to merely dodging the blows, endlessly sidestepping and spinning away.

In short order, Shikamaru was panting hard. The drone then landed a glancing blow on his shoulder. The human was knocked back a step, then lamely kicked at the drone. The drone easily checked her momentum to avoided the hit. As she did, she took a swipe at the leg offending leg. Shikamaru was overbalanced and spun haphazardly away from the drone.

Seeing the opening, the drone sprang towards her opponent. As she did, Shikamaru violently dug his foot into the ground and spun to a stop. A three-quarter spin left him facing the drone, his own body close to the ground and legs ready to spring. Shikamaru feinted to the right, while with his left arm he reached behind his back to his waist holster.

The drone noticed the feint, and altered her step slightly to her right. Intent on hitting Shikamaru right as he leaned into his real attack, she launched herself at his left side.

Shikamaru hesitated for a fraction of a second, insuring the drone was fully committed to her attack. Then one foot stepped to his right. As he did, he pulled his empty left hand away from his back. The drone was unable to react in time and her lunge took her past Shikamaru's left side. But as she passed, the boy ducked under her outstretched arms and hooked his left arm around her left shoulder. Her momentum was checked, pulling her to the side. Shikamaru was pulled to the side as well, and added to his own momentum by leaping up across the drones back.

Turing nearly sideways, Shikamaru hooked his right arm around the back of the drone's neck. He released his left arm, letting his momentum carry him up and over the drone's right shoulder. As soon as he was clear, Shikamaru tucked over yanked down as hard as he could. The move focused all his momentum, pulling the drone down by her neck. Her head hit the rocky soil with an audible crack.

Winded, Shikamaru quickly rolled over the drone. With one motion, he pulled a blade out of his side holster and stuck it in the drone's forehead.

Shikamaru held the pose for a moment, breathing heavily. "I win," he finally heaved.

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

The hilltop…

"This way!" Ino yelled as she shuffled forward. Though in a hurry, she kept her guard up and moved forward in a defensive stance. Just because she didn't see any more insects didn't mean there weren't any more around. Besides, Choji wasn't in much of a position to defend himself, so the job fell to her. "C'mon," she prompted again, looking back. "Shikamaru needs our—"

Ino cut herself off as a fan abruptly appeared in front of her.

"Wait," Temari casually commanded.

Ino glared at the Sand ninja, then glanced past the fan down the hill. At the base of the hill, Shikamaru was being driven back by a drone. Ino angrily returned her gaze to Temari. "Why! Can't you see he's in trouble? We've got her outnumbered," Ino declared, balling her fist. "Lets rush her!"

Choji, wheezing and still dizzy, caught up with Ino. Not particularly caring why she had stopped, he knelt down and tried to stop his head from spinning.

"Yeah," sarcastically droned Kankurou. "That'll work. With us falling over each other, all trying to hit her but not your friend…"

Temari closed her fan and pulled it back to her side. "We will help him," she said confidently, turning her attention back to the fight. "But only when there's an opening."

Ino scowled, but didn't try to move past the two ninjas. She did, however, pull a blade out of her side holster just to be ready.

Below, Shikamaru fell away from the drone, spinning to the ground in a heap. The drone wasted no time in charging after him.

Termari smirked, cracking open her fan. "Okay, get ready to…"

The two combatants moved like a blur, and then the drone was on the ground. Shikamaru rolled over her and stuck a blade in her head.

"…Wow," Temari finished, slightly mystified.

"Damn," Kankurou muttered. "So much for knocking him down a peg. Good thing he didn't fight like that in the exam."

Ino ignored the Sand ninjas. She knew how Shikamaru fought, and for him taijutsu was beyond a last resort. Concerned, Ino grabbed the just-recovered Choji and rushed to her teammate's side. "Shikamaru!" She called. "Shikamaru, are you all right?"

Still crouching next to the drone, Shikamaru abruptly looked back. He took in the scene in an instant, and scowled. "Ino," he ordered in a weary voice. "We need to make sure the area is clear. You and Choji do a perimeter sweep. Recon pattern D, version four. Go!"

Choji stopped short, looking slightly confused. "Plan D? That's not a re—"

Ino quickly turned and grabbed Choji by his scarf. "C'mon, you heard him, Choji. Recon _pattern_ _D_." Ino said the last words through clenched teeth, and promptly dragged Choji away.

As Ino and Choji left, Shikamaru nodded to himself and turned his attention back to the fallen drone.

Kankurou watched the two Leaf ninjas scurry off. With one eyebrow raised, he turned his gaze back towards Temari. His sister nodded. Kankurou smiled and began confidently walking down the hill.

"Temari," hailed Shikamaru as the two Sand ninjas approached. He did not, however, turn to face them, keeping his gazed fixed on the dead drone. "You said you were tracking these things. What do know about them? What are they?"

"Demons," Temari curtly replied. "Part of Regekion's swarm. We've been tracking them for over a week."

"Demons?" Shikamaru skeptically repeated. "They seem pretty physical for that."

Temari's fan opened with a metallic chink.

"Yeah, but they're not all that's physical, Shi-_kun_…" Temari let her fan slowly graze the back of Shikamaru's collar. "The truce is over," she said with mock sweetness. "Don't try anything clever. I _will_ hurt you if you do."

"So just keep your hands where they are," Kankurou finished.

Shikamaru remained motionless. "Checkmate," he quietly concluded.

Temari smiled, keeping her fan at Shikamaru's neck. "You can't always get the best of me…"

"So now it's your turn to answer questions, Leafy," said Kankurou in a vindictive tone. "You're a long way from Konoha. What are you doing out here?" Kankurou stepped forward as he continued spitting out questions. "And why are you three alone? Where's your commander."

Shikamaru remained quiet for a moment. "Kankurou, I believe it was… I want you to look very closely at something…"

Kankurou crossed his arms incredulously.

Temari whipped her arm to the side, hitting Kankurou right in the face with the flat of her fan. The boy was knocked off his feet, tumbling helplessly across the rocky ground.

"_Eeeuuh_!" Temari let out an undignified squeal of shock as she found herself once again unable to control her body.

Kankurou quickly stood back up, clutching his nose. "I don't know how you did that, punk, but now you're—"The Sand ninja was abruptly cut off as Ino drop kicked him in the back. He stumbled forward a few steps, regained his footing, and then stood motionless. Breathing heavily, he glared at Shikamaru, who still had yet to move a muscle. "How the hell did you do this?" He angrily demanded.

"Maybe," came Ino's condescendingly upbeat voice. "If you two actually paid attention, you would have already figured that out."

Kankurou scowled, struggling weakly against the Shadow Imitation. "What d'ya mean?"

Ino walked in front of Kankurou, then mockingly used the side of his hood to wipe some blood from his nose. "He said it right in front of you. Operation _D_, _version_ four. He told us to create a _di-version_. You actually missed that?" Ino laughed and walked away. "Choji, I think you can drop the illusion now."

The air wavered, revealing a standing Shikamaru. He still had his back to the other ninjas, and was holding one arm away from his side. Two previously hidden shadows stretched from him to Temari and Kankurou.

"Like I said," Shikamaru quietly uttered, forcing Temari to toss aside her fan. "_Checkmate_." In a subtle gesture of triumph, the Chuunin tugged on the front collar of this flack jacket.

Forced to do the same, Temari squeaked indignantly.

Ino couldn't help but giggle.

Choji wearily rejoined his teammates. "Okay, we got them," he observed. "So what now?"

Kankurou growled. "Yeah. What _now_? We all know you can't hold us like this forever."

"I know," Shikamaru grimly answered. "But I don't have to. I just have to hold you there long enough for Ino to cut your throat."

Kankurou bared his teeth.

"Temari," Shikamaru continued, without changing tone at all. "You said you were tracking these demons. That sounds _fascinating_."

Temari gave a weak laugh. "Yeah, it is, really. Truce?"

"For _now_."

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o


	7. After the Fire

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

After the Fire

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

The original campsite, early nighttime…

"The fire should keep them away," Kankurou muttered as he tossed another stick on the campfire. Having done that, he returned to idly cleaning the blades he had retrieved from the dead drones. Karasu was by his side, awaiting patching. "Some of the dumber ones are attracted to light. But they're scared of fire. Just the smell of smoke is enough to keep them away. So we're told, at least."

From the other side of the campfire, Ino leaned forward and smirked. "You do realize that the smoke was the only reason we spotted you, right?"

"Yeah…" The Sand ninja grudgingly admitted.

All five ninjas had reconvened at the foot of the hill where the night's conflict had begun. Kankurou, under the watch of Ino and Choji, had had cleared out the fire-pit and relit the fire. Shikamaru, with Temari tailing him, had had retrieved team ten's travel packs from the crevice they had been stowed in before the fight. All five were now hunkered around the campfire, trying to recover from the evening's events. A token attempt to move Gaara had been thwarted by his sand shell, so he was left at the top of the hill, still completely unresponsive.

"So what did you do to Gaara," Temari asked again. "How long is he going to be like that?"

Ino shrugged. "I don't know. A few more hours, maybe. Depends on how hard he tries to break it. Shikamaru broke it in less than an hour when I tried it on him."

"The dreams weren't making any sense," the Chuunin said dismissively. "Too troublesome. I wanted them to end."

"He's dreaming?" Asked Temari, suddenly scared but seeming too tired to show it. "You mean Gaara is asleep?"

Kankurou looked stricken as well. "Doesn't the demon come out when he sleeps?"

"Relax," Ino muttered. "I took care of Chuka-kooka as well."

Shikamaru gave Ino a sidelong glance. "Huh?"

Ino rolled her eyes. "Shukaku. Scary aura, big ego. Pretty talkative for a demon, though."

Kankurou stared at Ino. "You've met demons before?"

"More often than we'd like," Shikamaru muttered.

"How did you 'take care' of him?" Temari skeptically demanded. "And for the last time, what did you do?"

Shikamaru sighed. "Yamanaka family secret. Ino?"

The kunoichi shrugged. "Won't hurt. It's not like they could use it." Ino turned to look at the Sand ninjas. "Dad calls it the Waking Dream. You lock a person out of their body's motor controls, then set up a feedback steam of phantom inputs to keep the mind occupied."

Kankurou continued staring at Ino. "Meh?"

"Look, it's complicated psych-stuff. You wouldn't understand even if I did explain it better," said Ino, dismissing the boy with a wave of her hand. "All you need to know is that I sacrificed my chakra to create a web keeping him from reality. After that, it's out of my control. The web will only break once he figures out what's going on and finds a way around things."

Shikamaru sighed. "Ino, that was _more_ than they needed to know. There was no reason to tell them you're powerless."

"Like it matters?" Ino angrily retorted. "They agreed to a truce."

"And you actually trust them? Just stop letting things slip like that."

"Well," mused Temari. "It's good to know where we all stand."

"Yeah, like you trust us either," muttered Shikamaru, looking into the base of the fire.

The ninjas remained silent for a moment.

"You're sure Shukaku won't break your dream-thing," Kankurou prompted after a moment. "If _he_ gets control, we're, uh, kinda screwed."

"Don't worry," Ino again reassured. "I wired it so any break in my web will catapult Gaara back into consciousness. He's locked between his mind and his mommy. Even if Shukaku breaks the technique, it'll only wake up Gaara." Ino chuckled to herself. "That poor demon had no idea what I could do to him in there. As soon as he did, he started screaming at me, yelling curses and all that… It was like listening to an angry kitten. I was almost embarrassed for the guy."

Temari cast Ino a sideways glance. "You must have some strange kittens in Konoha."

"There was nothing he could have done to her," Shikamaru informed. "It was all in Gaara's head. And Yamanakas are raised playing head games."

"So you're why I blacked out," accused Temari. "Did you try to do that to me as well?"

"No. That was a basic mind transfer that I blotched."

Kankurou snorted. "How do you manage to put down Gaara _and_ his demon, but blotch something against someone like Temari?"

"Hey!" Indignantly barked Temari.

"Ino," Shikamaru said warningly.

"Hey, I wanna know," replied Kankurou. "We're spilling our guts to you, why can't you guys do the same?"

"No you're not," Shikamaru retorted. "You haven't said one thing since we sat down here."

Ino rolled her eyes. "I blotched it because I was trying it from too far away. Or maybe that I went through a ridge before I got to her. Something like that."

"Through a ridge?" Balked Temari. "You mean you couldn't even see me when you tried it."

"Well, if I were close enough to see you, I'd be close enough for you to see me. That would kind of defeat the whole purpose of spying on you, wouldn't it?"

"Then how'd you get Temari," Kankurou demanded. "Don't tell me you've got some sort of psychic awareness or something."

Ino laughed. "Yeah right. Shikamaru scouted ahead, getting just close enough to identify where you are. Then he found a safe vector for me to attack from and gave me the coordinates. I was supposed to pop into your head, find out who you were and what you were doing, then leave before you even realized I'm there."

Shikamaru sighed in resignation.

Temari smirked. "Well, points for being bold. You actually believed you could pull that off?"

"You can do a lot when you're with a good team," Ino replied.

Kankurou smirked. "And when you're with guys like that?" The Sand ninja idly pointed to Choji, who had been silent since the quintet had sat down.

Noticing the attention was getting, Choji sullenly looked up. "I'm fine," he said quietly, gingerly nursing the arm that the scourer had chewed on. "It's just… Just that I've never killed anyone before today. It's just hard to get over."

"You still haven't killed anyone," Shikamaru reprimanded.

"I don't know, that drone looked pretty dead to me," Kankurou joked.

Shikamaru spared Kankurou an annoyed glance. "You stomped on an insect, Choji. Nothing more. Just remember what she would have done to you."

Choji looked up and smiled weakly.

Noting the exchange, Temari narrowed her eyes slightly. "So, I take it you've seen what Regekion's swam leaves behind?"

"Yeah," answered Shikamaru, returning his gaze to the fire.

Temari waited for a moment, expecting Shikamaru to say more. "And?" She finally prompted.

"And we're here to kill her," Shikamaru finished.

Ino abruptly raised her hand "Uuuuh…"

"You're joking, right?" Asked Temari, amused. "You three, killing Regekion? Do you have any idea what that would be getting into?"

"No," Shikamaru humorlessly answered. "So enlighten us. That is why I let live, after all."

Kankurou snorted. "Yeah, your friend freaks out because he killed a bug during battle, but you would have executed us as captives."

"I would have," said Shikamaru, causing even his teammates to stare at him. "He is him," the Chuunin continued. "But I am me. This is _my_ mission, and I would have."

"_Riiight_," interjected Ino, suddenly rather uncomfortable. "Lets get back to Regekion."

Temari, noting Shikamaru was still grimly staring at her and Kankurou, gladly accommodated Ino's request. "Regekion is a demon. One of the lesser Youma. Her swarms have been the chronic bane of the western lands."

"She's sort of a Youma," corrected Kankurou. Sounding more serious than before, the Sand ninja began fidgeting with one of his blades. "She can't be summoned, or use demonic chakra or any of that. She's more of a demon permanently incarnated as an insect aspect. Basically, she's a queen. And she sends out swarms of scourers, drones, and warriors to, well, do whatever she wants. Usually, that means ravage the land." The boy shrugged. "Demons seem to like doing that."

"Chronic?" Asked Shikamaru.

Temari sighed. "Like I said, she's one of the lesser Youma. She's been killed. Repeatedly. But she always seems to come back."

"At least her daughter does," Kankurou interjected. "She wanders, and she leaves eggs everywhere. You can kill her, but a new Regekion could eventually hatch out of any of those eggs she leaves behind."

"Ick," commented Ino. "So why don't you hunt down the eggs after you killed her?"

"They thought they did," Kankurou muttered. "They told us there was a huge hunt for anything she left behind at the end of her last attack. They scoured everything west of the Magoi Mountains. It was supposed to finish her off for good."

"They should have looked _east_ of the mountains as well," Ino muttered under her breath.

"How long ago was that?" Asked Shikamaru, ignoring his teammate.

"About twenty years," answered Temari. "Baki was part of the hunt. It's how he lost his eye."

"Baka?" Asked Ino.

"_Baki_!" Kankurou angrily corrected. "Our sensei. The guy with the visard over half his face!"

Ino smirked, amused at the rise she had gotten out of Kankurou. "Sorry. His name never came up." Leaning over to Shikamaru, she whispered "What kind of parent would do that to their kid?"

"Visard?" Choji asked, finally taking an interest in the conversation.

"It's… A cloth mask," answered Temari, gesturing in front of her face. "Usually hangs from a headband. It's a veil for guys."

"Don't people wear those in Fire Country?" Kankurou asked incredulously.

"No," Shikamaru responded in a level voice. "Where we come from, exotic hoods are generally dismissed as stupid looking. Especially when they've got little ears on them."

Kankurou glared at Shikamaru.

"Unless its on a baby."

"I'm seriously about this close to kicking your ass, punk!"

"Kankurou…" Temari warned.

The hooded boy growled, then made a show of going back to cleaning off his blade.

"So where were we?" Asked Ino, still amused at how easily the Sand ninja could be riled up.

"Over our heads," Choji responded in a haunted tone. "Shikamaru, we can't hunt a demon. Not a whole swarm of them. We'll be killed."

"No, we won't."

"You only saw drones today," Temari quietly informed. "There are worse."

"How do you know that?" Ino blurted out. "You weren't even born when they last fought Regekion."

"We were briefed on it," Temari replied. "Don't they brief you on missions in Fire Country?"

"Not well enough," Choji muttered.

"So Baki told you all about his hunt," figured Shikamaru. "Good, that should help some."

"No, actually it won't," Kankurou contradicted. "Baki didn't send us on this mission. He was kind of busy trying to put the village back together."

Ino huffed. "Why? _Your_ village wasn't the one being fought over?"

"Hey, we lost a Kazekage, okay!"

"And _we_ lost a Hokage," Ino countered.

"Both of you, shut up. That's not helping any." Shikamaru closed his eyes and shook his head. "This is too troublesome…"

Silence followed Shikamaru's outburst.

Eventually, Choji spoke up. "So then, you got sent out here by… A council? You're out here alone?"

"Its not the first time we've had a mission without supervision," said Temari.

"To kill a Youma?" Choji finished. "They sent you to kill a Youma, alone…"

"They wanted to get rid of you, didn't they?"

Kankurou and Temari turned to Shikamaru.

"Rather, they wanted to get rid of _him_." Shikamaru gestured up the hill.

"Probably," Temari meekly conceded.

"Is there something I missed?" Asked Ino.

Shikamaru glanced at his teammate. "Gaara is not well liked by his village. He's rightly seen a major psycho. The Kazakage had been trying to kill him for the past six years. And Gaara's been doing some killing of his own for just as long."

"No way," blurted Ino. She looked to the Sand ninjas to refute Shikamaru's claims, but they were both looking meekly into the fire. "No…" Ino came to a realization. "And you sent me into his head!" She yelled, grabbing Shikamaru by his collar.

"It was the best way to take him out," argued Shikamaru as he flinched away. "If Lee couldn't beat him, there was no way we could have. Look at it this way, you one-upped your precious Sasuske."

Choji shook his head slowly. "Your village must be messed up."

"You don't know the half of it," Kankurou muttered under his breath. After a moment he abruptly looked up. "Well yours has got to be, too. Sending out rookie Gennin on a mission like this?"

"Well, they are occasionally crazy," Shikamaru confirmed, wearily straightening the collar of his flack jacket. "But they didn't send only Gennin on the mission."

Temari's face darkened as she recalled the last time he had adjusted his jacket. "Don't think I've forgotten about that stunt you pulled earlier," she warned.

Ino giggled. "Oh come on, if you didn't like low necklines you wouldn't be wearing that dress in the first place."

Kankurou ignored the girls' bickering. "So they gave you a command vest. So what?"

"How dumb are you?" Asked Choji with uncharacteristic harshness. "That's a Chuunin jacket! Shikamaru got promoted."

Kankurou stared at Shikamaru, then back at Choji. "How could he be promoted to Chuunin! Are you people nuts?"

"Occasionally," Shikamaru wryly repeated.

"How could they have decided to promote you?" Kankurou persisted. "It doesn't make sense."

Ino smiled. "Hey, it pays to give up."

Kankurou shook his head in disgust. "He's younger than me. He's a weakling. He's a punk. And they made him a Chuunin. I'm working in the wrong village."

"You're just now figuring that out? The village elders sent us on this mission so we'd die, after all…" Temari heaved a sigh, and then looked up at Shikamaru. "So you're really a Chuunin? And in charge of the mission? Even at your age?"

"Its not unheard of. And we were short on personnel… But they did put me in charge of my old team, so that's some consolation." Shikamaru shrugged. "But it won't last. Assuming we survive this, they'll be back with Asuma, and I'll be sent off on my own to do who knows what."

"Hey, don't say 'if we survive,' Shikamaru," said Ino, rather indignantly. "Demons or not, I plan on living through this."

"Yeah," agreed Choji. "You'll get us through this."

"…Somehow," Shikamaru halfheartedly muttered.

"Yeah, well, we don't plan on dying either," Temari informed. "Regardless of how the feudal lords feel. So…" Temari glanced around the campsite. "I think we can at least agree not to get in each other's way. We could even coordinate this a bit."

"What?" Balked Kankurou. "We don't need their help!"

Temari closed her eyes. "Last time our village hunted Regekion, little brother, they sent out the entire ninja corps. Most of the Jounin, all the Anbu, and a big contingent of allies. We're good, but we're not that good."

"Then why did they only send you?" Asked Ino. "If Regekion is as scary as we think she is, and your village knows she's here, why send only you? Why not try to crush her?"

"'Cause like I said, our village has problems," Kankurou muttered.

"And this time, Regekion isn't one of them," finished Temari. "This time around, she's barely been in Wind Country. A few weeks ago, she crossed the border into Steppe Country, and has been going north from there ever since. Not our land, not our problem." Temari shrugged. "But a good way to get rid of a few unwanted reminders."

Ino glanced at Shikamaru, who was seemed to be thinking hard.

"How long ago did Regekion show up?" The Chuunin asked.

"Exactly two weeks and five days ago," answered Kankurou. "First sighting was an eye witness. A border patroller saw a swarm attack a watering hole."

All three Leaf ninjas looked up with concerned expressions on their faces.

Temari noted the reaction. "What?"

"We were assigned this mission because of something that happened three weeks ago." Choji answered. "_Four_ weeks," he corrected, taking into account the time they had spent on the road.

"Eh?"

"Maybe even earlier," Ino added. "We weren't given an exact time for the attack, remember."

"What are you talking about?" Asked Temari.

"The mission we were sent on was to avenge a mining camp that had been ravaged. It was assumed that it had done by bandits, and that the people were just killed. We've since figured that the people were eaten by forces unknown. Now we know Regekion was behind it." Shikamaru paused and looked up at the Sand ninjas. "The ravaged camp was _discovered_ four weeks ago. We've come across three other kill sites. One that's gotta be more than three weeks old, a fresh one three days ago, and today's attack. These attacks _didn't_ start in Wind Country. And there _isn't_ some clear pattern to them."

"That you've figured," Ino said hopefully. "There's got to be some pattern. She can't be everywhere."

"She can if she's got enough bugs," Kankurou muttered. "Damn. And I thought this was a pain before…"

"Damn troublesome," Shikamaru quietly agreed.

"So what do we do?" Choji asked.

The quintet went quiet, with all eyes on Shikamaru.

"Take a nap," Shikamaru said, making eye contact with Choji. "Ino, you too. I need to think about this for a bit."

"And us?" Asked Temari.

Kankurou glanced at his sister, surprised she was asking advice from the Leaf ninja. But the feeling was fleeting, since he couldn't think of any good reason not to.

"One of you needs to be awake to explain things to Gaara. Just keep him from going psycho on us. Other than that, I don't care what you do."

The Sand siblings glanced at each. Temari nodded, while Kankurou just shrugged.

"Troublesome," Shikamaru muttered under his breath, as the others made ready for the night. "Just too damn troublesome…"

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

The same, five hours later…

"Oooh…" Groaning softly, Gaara lurched forward. Before he even realized he had lost his balance, sand rushed around him and gently pushed him back up. Blinking rapidly, he looked around in wonder. "Night?"

"Gaara," a voice called out to him. "Are you okay?"

With the sand retreating back to its gourd, Gaara stood up on his own. "Temari?" He asked, finding her standing next to some brush. To his dismay, he noticed that she was anxiously fingering her fan. "What happened?"

Temari straightened her stance slightly. "You're sure it's you?" She asked again.

Gaara closed his eyes and nodded. "It's me," he muttered. "And I am unhurt." Gaara looked up again. "Why's it night? Where's Kankurou? Where's the Leaf ninja?"

Temari exhaled and relaxed, as much as she ever relaxed around her brother. "Kankurou is just down the hill. So are the Leaf ninjas."

"Ninjas?" Gaara asked.

"There was a team of them," Temari supplied. "C'mon, lets get you over to the fire. It's getting cold out here."

Gaara nodded and began slowly walking forward. Temari quietly fell into step beside him.

"I remember…" Gaara began, unsure of himself. "The Mori Plains. Baki was training me there. But then he…" Gaara trailed off. "He was younger. He tossed a ball at me. And then told me to try to kick it past him. To get it between the Kazik Gates." The boy trailed off again. "But that didn't happen. It…"

"It was just a dream," Temari informed. "It wasn't real. There's no need to worry about it."

Gaara slowed his pace. "But it doesn't make sense."

Temari sighed. "Dreams usually don't," she said, with a bit more emotion than earlier. "Look, one of the Leaf ninjas did something to mess with your head. But it's over. You don't need to worry about it anymore."

Gaara looked at his sister. "They're dead?"

Temari winced. "They're… Asleep. We sort of called a truce."

"Why?"

"They're going after Regekion as well," Temari replied. "Even if they're not from our village, we could use the help. Besides, they seemed to know a few things about the current situation that we didn't."

Gaara remained silent for a moment. "There were Leaf ninjas like me," he reluctantly stated. "Who did we encounter?"

"Shikamaru, Choji, and Ino. That was it. They were in the exam. Shikamaru was the kid I fought." Temari winced again at the memory. "Choji was the fat one. Ino was the blond girl that didn't make it past the prelims. She's also the one that… Got in your head."

Gaara grunted in acknowledgement.

Temari noted her brother's lack of reaction and allowed herself a small sigh of relief. As she made the final approach to the campsite, a pair of reflections caught her eye.

"They posted a guard."

"Ino and I were on the second watch," Temari informed. "Apparently they didn't trust me to do it alone."

The corner of Gaara's mouth turned up.

From the far end of the campsite, Ino glared intently at the approaching ninjas. Light from the fire reflected off her forehead protector and off a kunai, which she was idly twirling in her hand. But she said nothing.

"Most of us are tired," Temari began, carefully laying her fan on the ground. "Our talk with the Leaf ninjas was interrupted by some of Regekion's swarm. Just scourers and drones. None of us got hurt too bad, but…" Temari trailed off with a shrug. "You feel up to taking the rest of the night's watch?"

Gaara closed his eyes and nodded. "Off course."

"Thanks." With that, Temari laid down, curled up, and immediately fell asleep.

The remaining Sand ninja turned his gaze to Ino. The Leaf ninja was still staring at him.

"You may sleep, too, if you must."

"Thanks," Ino dryly replied. "But I'll pass."

Gaara tilted his head to the side. "You were in my head. You were the one I heard."

"Yeah. Most people don't notice me when I do that," Ino remarked. "But I guess you're used to dealing with other voices in there. No hard feelings, though, right?"

Gaara stared intently at Ino. "No," he answered at length. Ino ceased twirling the blade, discretely holding it at the ready. "I'm not used it." Abruptly breaking eye contact, Gaara turned away. Walking a few paces from the campfire, he crossed his arms and looked out over the night.

After remaining tense for a moment longer, Ino leaned back and continued her watch.

The rest of the night passed in silence.

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o


	8. Day Dreaming

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

Day Dreaming

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

Further north, the next morning…

"Now the weirdest thing that happens to me," lectured Kankurou, "is that I dream I'm someone else. Not that that's not too weird by itself… What's weird is that I'm still in those dreams. Me. I'm a character in my own dream. Sometimes, I even meet myself."

Showing only trace amusement, Gaara glanced at his brother.

A pace ahead, Ino rolled her eyes.

"Weak," dismissed Choji.

The four ninjas were idly leaping along the crest of a ridge. They had long since broken camp, and had covered nearly twenty-five klicks. Despite the slight mist, Choji and Ino had left their cloaks stowed in their travel packs. For their part, Gaara and Kankurou were traveling light. Beyond their respective gourd and marionette, they each carried a satchel, slung on a single strap across their shoulders. Kankurou wore an additional side holster with a bit of his own travel supplies. But that was it.

"Oh, stuff it, fat-ass," Kankurou threw back. "You didn't come up with any better."

"But it was _weak_," Choji persisted. "Besides, I never said my dream was _really_ weird, just that it was weirdest one I've had."

"It's not weak," Kankurou argued. "Its freaky. Meeting yourself, and not realizing that you're not you, is weird. Seriously. I've had dreams where I never realized things were wrong. I've woken up expecting to find myself in that other person's home. I've had the sensation last for weeks! When the first thing you think is that 'hey, this isn't my place' before remembering, again, that it had only been a dream."

"I'm glad I'm not you," Gaara responded after a respectable pause.

"Yeah," agreed Kankurou, missing any traces of scorn in his brother's voice. "You've got _nothing_ to complain about. Spending a dream playing soccer with Baki is tame."

"So what about you, Ino," suggested Choji. "You've got to have some stories, being a Yamanaka and all…"

"You'd think that," Ino replied. "But not really. Besides the occasional salamander nightmare, I don't remember my dreams. The few times I do, it's like listening to a bard. The dreams I remember are my own epic stories, complete with overblown threats, offbeat sidekicks and a soundtrack."

Kankurou laughed out loud.

"I don't remember what the soundtrack was like, but I remember one of the little animals singing." Ino chuckled. "And the thing about them is that I'll dream the same tale twice. I had one of these dreams when I was seven, and then I had the exact same dream four years later. Exact same dream, right down to the dragon and the purple comb."

"Purple comb?" Kankurou repeated.

"You remembered dreams when you were that young?" Asked Choji.

"Only dreams like that," Ino replied. "Though I don't think I actually remembered it until I dreamed it the second time. When I woke up, I just knew I had had that dream before. And eventually it came to me."

Kankurou laughed. "And I'll bet you, you remember you had those dreams when you're dreaming."

Choji balked. "What?"

"You can't tell me you've never had a dream reference another dream," Kankurou continued. "Not with dreams like that."

"Yeah," Ino conceded. "I think I've had that happen…"

Kankurou chuckled to himself. But his amusement abruptly ceased. "Hey, where's Gaara?"

The three ninjas immediately stopped. After a second, they spotted Gaara standing on the ridge fifty meters back.

"Hey!" Yelled Ino. "What's the hold up?"

"This is where we were supposed to meet them," came Gaara's distant voice.

"How come you're so sure?" Demanded Choji.

"He just is, fat-ass," said Kankurou. "And he's usually right." The Sand ninja rolled his shoulders to readjust the straps, then jumped away.

"Hey don't call me 'fat' you sonov—"

Choji's threat was cut off as Ino clamped her hand over his mouth. "This isn't the place," she advised. "And they aren'tthe people to do it against. Just remember what Shikamaru said this morning and don't antagonize them."

Ino let go of Choji, who sulked back a step and angrily crossed his arms.

Ino grinned. "…Much." With that, she shouldered her own pack and leapt away.

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

A nearby peak, slightly earlier…

"You don't have to worry," Temari reassured. "Kankurou is naturally talkative. He likes being around people. Likes irritating them, but he likes them."

"Kankurou isn't the one I'm worried about," Shikamaru quietly retorted. "And you know why."

Temari exhaled audibly as she leapt up to the next rock outcropping.

On the way to Taruji Valley, Shikamaru had noted that the highlands dropped off significantly to the west. There was a broad peak at the edge of the fall off, which would afford a wide view of the land. Not a comprehensive view, but enough of an overview to help plot the best way to search the land. The peak also put them above the rolling foothills to the east.

Naturally, Shikamaru felt it was worth it scale the mountain. Ino and Choji were less enthusiastic. Kankurou was downright hostile to the idea. Gaara remained quiet, while Temari agreed with Shikamaru. Ino then suggested that the two of them scout the mountain, while the other four continued as they were. Choji and Kankurou quickly agreed, and were gone before Shikamaru had even finished yelling his objections. Gaara stuck around just long enough to receive rendezvous instructions from Temari, but then he too was gone. With that, Shikamaru had been left with no choice but to scout the mountain with Temari.

"I know," Temari eventually conceded, as she looked out over the land. "But still, it'll only be few hours. They'll be fine."

Shikamaru glared at the Sand ninja. "I've seen Gaara kill. It only takes a few seconds."

Temari sighed and looked down. "He won't do anything like that. Kankurou is with him."

"So?"

"So he's his brother. We're family. We'll keep him in line."

"Please," scoffed Shikamaru, his voice dripping with scorn. "You are, and I quote, 'pieces of meat, bound hatred.' You don't have any hold over him."

Temari looked at Shikamaru with an expression that was a mix of anxiety and disappointment. "He told you that?"

"Gaara had a nice heart to heart chat with Naruto and I," Shikamaru supplied. "Over Lee's almost dead body."

"He doesn't have a reason to kill your—"

"He does so!" Shikamaru interrupted. "But its not like he would need one. He told us all about that, too."

Temari looked Shikamaru in the eye. "Look, he hasn't killed Kankurou yet. He won't kill your friends."

"That's not reassuring."

Temari nodded slightly. "I know. But… But he's been different since our last mission. It's hard to describe, but there's…"

"I don't care," muttered Shikamaru. Turning his back, he continued his trek up the mountain. "He's a killer, and I left my team with him. I should have ordered him to stay with us. If I hadn't been so concerned about splitting us up…"

Temari cocked her head to the side, then darted forward until she caught up with the Chuunin. "You seem rather protective of them," she observed, far more casual than before. "I didn't expect you'd be like that."

"There was a lot you didn't expect from me," Shikamaru wryly replied.

Temari nodded. "Yeah, I suppose there was. Baki had me watch you some in the run up to the tournament, and I just didn't see any drive in you. I figured you'd be the type to give up."

Shikamaru glanced at Temari. "I _did_ give up."

"_After_ you had me beat," laughed the Sand ninja. "If you were the type to give up, you would have done so long before that…" Temari trailed off. "And you wouldn't have survived against the insects yesterday. Not when you were surprised and outnumbered." Temari glanced down at Shikamaru. "You fought them a lot different than you fought me. What changed?"

"It was life or death."

"So was the tournament," Temari reminded him. "Both rounds. I could have killed you. Same with that Sound chick."

Shikamaru shook his head. "That wasn't life or death. It wasn't _win_ or _die_. At any point in that tournament, I could have given up. Even in the worst position, I could have fallen to the ground, forfeited the match, and screamed for mercy. If I did that, I could have walked away just fine."

"Except without any dignity," Temari added.

"Dignity isn't worth your life."

The Sand ninja smirked. "But it is worth some pain. Or else you wouldn't have fought me at all."

"It's not worth pain. But it is worth some effort," Shikamaru conceded.

"But your life is worth more," Temari concluded.

Shikamaru nodded silently and continued trudging up the hill.

"Is that why they promoted you?" Temari asked at length. "For only using the minimum necessary force? That's been bugging me since last night."

"They promoted me for getting in, messing with you, and getting out unscathed." Shikamaru replied. "When you can't win, getting out alive is the next best thing."

"You _couldn't_ win?" Temari smiled. "They really think I'm that good?"

"That, or they figured I was that bad. I am not regarded as the village's top ninja…"

"I can't imagine why," Temari joked. "Still, take what you can get. And your sensei has to be proud." The kunoichi shrugged, remembering she didn't know the exact inner workings of the Leaf village. "Or you parents or mentor or whoever. What did they have to say about it?"

"I wouldn't know," answered the Leaf ninja. "I didn't get a chance to talk to any of them before I left. They didn't tell me where Asuma was, my dad was on a mission and my mom was busy on the family range. They wanted me gone that day, so all I had time to do was pack my things and leave a note."

Temari chuckled. "That must have been an interesting note."

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "'Mom,'" he repeated. "'Got promoted. Going to Steppe Country. Didn't do the dishes. See you in two weeks.'"

Temari burst out laughing.

Shikamaru smirked. "So I guess if there's any consolation out of this," he said as he idly picked at the collar of his flack jacket. "It's that my mom will give the council an earful for sending me on a mission so quickly."

"That, and of course, being a Chuunin," remarked Temari as her laughter trailed off.

Shikamaru glanced down at himself. "No," he said, slowly coming to a stop. "That's the most troublesome part of this."

Temari stopped and looked back. "You didn't want to be a Chuunin?"

"Before I left, I was told that Ino and Choji were mine to command. Their lives are my responsibility." Shikamaru met Temari's gaze. "That wasn't what I wanted. And I don't like what its dong to me."

"So that's where last night's outbursts came from," Temari surmised.

"The outbursts," Shikamaru agreed. "And the way I handled you. Rival ninjas or not, if it had just been my life on the line, I wouldn't have been quite so quick to threaten your brother's life. Let alone yours." Shikamaru offhandedly gestured toward Temari. Shaking his head, the boy resumed his trek up the slope. "But it wasn't just my life, so I didn't feel a thing. Even about threatening a woman. I'm starting to wonder if there's anything I wouldn't do right now…"

Temari paused for a moment longer. "You're a ninja," she reminded him. "There isn't supposed to be anything you wouldn't do."

Shikamaru ignored the comment and silently continued up the hill.

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

Noon, just above Taruji Valley…

"Shouldn't you have done that last night?" Gaara dryly asked.

"No way," Kankurou answered, without looking up. "Karasu is a very intricate marionette. He's got spikes and booby traps and all sorts of internal equipment. Any of those could have been knocked out of alignment when…" Kankurou paused to pry a chitin splinter out of Karasu's casing. "Damn. Anyway, there was no way I would try to do this by firelight. I might mistake an out-of-alignment spring-trap for a shadow, and end up poisoning myself. And with everyone else around, it wasn't too urgent." Kankurou pulled a tool out of his side holster and started cutting away some splintered wood.

The two Sand ninjas were waiting in a break in the ridge. Kankurou was sitting on a rock outcropping, while Gaara stood slightly above him looking out over the land. Ino and Choji were resting in the shade of a windswept juniper tree on the other side of the break.

Gaara nodded to himself. "The battle went poorly then, for Karasu to have been that damaged."

"Eh, we all lived through it," Kankurou casually replied. "And now we know what drones can do. It was basically just surprise that let them catch Karasu at all. Stupid spine patches…"

"But we will face worse, before the end."

"Yeah, but when we do, you won't be sleeping through the battle."

Gaara grunted in acknowledgement.

"So what do you think about these Leafies?" Kankurou asked a moment later. "Think they'll actually stick around for the duration?"

Gaara glanced across the break in the ridge to where Ino and Choji were resting. Once they stopped moving, both had collapsed. Choji was sleeping, while Ino looked on the verge of drifting off. "I don't know."

"Yeah," Kankurou agreed. "These guys were kind of the weaklings of the Leaf teams. The fat-ass especially."

"The leader will be of use, for as long as he is with us. He can face danger."

"Sure about that? Even he hasn't always seemed like the stand-up type…"

"We met," Gaara responded. "He did not run."

"Oh." Kankurou shrugged while he worked. "Well, that'll help some. And the guy's got a brain. It'll be interesting to see what he comes up with against Regekion."

Gaara nodded and remained quiet.

"Still," Kankurou continued a moment later. "He's not a powerhouse. Neither is the fat-ass. The flirt can fight, but she's just a Leaf Gennin. She won't hold up well against what Regekion will throw at us."

"No," Gaara agreed.

"Now that bowl-head kid, he would have been useful," Kankurou continued, thinking out loud.

Gaara blanched at the memory of his fight with Rock Lee.

Noticing his brother's reaction, Kankurou nervously glanced up. "Uh, sorry about that. Didn't mean to…"

"He would have been most useful," Gaara agreed. "Because we are doing what he did. Knowingly throwing ourselves into a danger we cannot comprehend."

"We know what we're getting into," Kankurou responded, turning back to Karasu.

"Only so much as he did," continued Gaara. "We know the nature of the danger, but not its extent."

Not knowing quite how to respond, Kankurou nodded and continued working.

"Have you ever done that, Kankurou?" Gaara asked in a quiet voice. "Have you ever known how it feels… To fight with such abandon? To see no hope, but to still fight to win?"

Kankurou paused. Gaara had just done two things he almost never did. He referred to Kankurou by name, and was waxing philosophical. "No…" The boy anxiously replied. "I've never had a fight like that."

"His eyes," Gaara continued, almost oblivious to his brother's response. "Were different than mine. Different than any in our village. I saw something in them that I had never seen before."

"Abject stupidity?" Kankurou half-heartedly suggested.

"I can't say what it was. Only that…" The Sand ninja trailed off. "There was no hate in his eyes. No anger. No rage. And no fear… Only pride. Like me, he was fighting for himself. Depending only on himself. And yet, in during that fight, he was more alive than I have _ever_ been."

"You're thinking about that too much," Kankurou said dismissively. "The poor kid got in over his head, still thought he could win, and damn near killed himself trying. I don't think that's really living."

"It is what we are doing."

Kankurou put down Karasu and stared out over the horizon. "So why don't we leave?" He quietly suggested. "Just quit this hunt and get the hell out of here. We've got no reason to continue this."

"We have a mission," Gaara reminded.

"Our mission is to die. The Wind Lords don't actually expect us to kill Regekion. And we're not even part of some first-wave assault…" Kankurou sighed. "Dad's dead, the village has turned on us…. We're not dying for a cause, we're just dying. So why not leave?" Kankurou looked up. "I've got nothing I want to go back to. You've never cared about our country. If we talk to Temari…"

"Running is no way to live," Gaara answered succinctly.

Kankurou exhaled loudly. "Yeah. But dying isn't a great way to live either. And if we're doing the same thing bowl-head did… Well, bowl-head lost. Baki isn't here to jump in and save us like his sensei did."

Gaara did not respond, continuing to look out over the landscape. Kankurou absently went back to fixing up Karasu, and the two brothers lapsed into silence.

The silence dragged on for the next half hour, until Shikamaru and Temari caught up with them.

"Welcome back," greeted Kankurou without looking up. "See anything interesting?"

"Just the lay of the land," Temari replied. "No kill sites in either direction."

Shikamaru walked past the Sand ninjas, paying them little heed. "Ino, Choji," he called. "Wake up. We're moving out."

Choji yawned, and grumbled a bit. Ino was quicker to her feet, but still had to stretch.

"Those two are ninjas?" Temari asked in jest.

Shikamaru shot the Sand ninja a harsh look. "We're in our first year out of the academy. We're on our own, and have been on the road in a foreign country for over a week. We've already had one fight, and we've been pulling double watches for the last four nights. They're tired, and I don't care if they show it."

Temari stepped back and held up her hands. "Sorry," she said defensively.

Kankurou chuckled and started packing up Karasu for travel. "Well, I guess I shouldn't ask how the trip went," he whispered to his sister.

"Shut up," she said, picking up on his insinuation. Turning her gaze back to Shikamaru, she continued. "But actually, he was pretty pleasant through most of it."

"So, fearless leader," Ino prompted as Shikamaru reached his teammates. The kunoichi continued stretching as she talked. "What'ja see?"

"Nothing incriminating," the Chuunin answered. "But I did get more information out of Temari."

"Anything worth sharing?" Choji asked.

"Not really. Just some things for me to think about. Local legends and conventional wisdom about Regekion."

"And that's not worth sharing?" Asked Ino.

Shikamaru shrugged. "If you want to hear it. The troublesome thing is that what we're seeing now doesn't fit with most of her past habits."

"She almost died last time," Choji observed. "She got scared, so she's doing everything different now."

"Something like that."

"So what now?" Asked Temari, stepping in on the conversation.

"Yeah," added Kankurou, with Karasu all wrapped up. "Now that your detour is over, what do you think we aught to do?"

Shikamaru glanced at the assorted Sand ninjas. "_We_," he emphasized, gesturing only to himself and his teammates. "Are going to Tarull. _You_…" He gestured to the Sand ninjas. "Can go do whatever you want." Upon saying that, Shikamaru leapt down the ridge into Taruji Valley.

Choji shouldered his travel pack and leapt after his commander.

Ino paused just long enough to mockingly wave at the Sand ninjas before doing the same.

Gaara, having seen the exchange, closed his eyes and remained still.

Kankurou sneered. "Jerks."

Temari exhaled slowly and shook her head.

"So," Kankurou prompted, looking at his sister. "What _do_ we do?"

"Shikamaru said he was planning doing some reconnaissance of the cities. He didn't exactly say why…" The elder Sand ninja shrugged. "We'll wait for him. He might find out something useful, and we could use a rest ourselves."

Kankurou rolled his eyes, realizing he had packed up Karasu for nothing. "Great…"

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o


	9. Writing on the Wall

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Writing on the Wall

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Tarull, a short time later…

"This… Really doesn't feel right."

Shikamaru's team was walking down the main street of Tarull. None had taken any measures to disguise themselves, and still wore their Leaf insignias openly. As they walked down the street, most people turned to gawk at them, but no one made any move to intercept them. As soon as the ninjas passed, the citizens returned to what they had been doing.

"I mean, we didn't do anything, and its not making a difference," continued Ino. "It's like we took all those infiltration and cov-op classes for nothing!"

"The classes weren't for nothing," Shikamaru replied. "The mission just doesn't call for anything we learned from them."

"I know," said Ino. "But it still doesn't feel right."

"Yeah," Choji agreed. "You'd think the people would at least, well, care that we're ninjas."

Ino shrugged. "Oh well. So where are we headed, Shikamaru? We've made our appearance, so how are we going to get the information we're looking for?"

Shikamaru sighed and stopped walking. "Didn't they teach us this? They had to have taught us this…" The Chuunin shook his head. "We're in a rural town, looking to talk to the locals. Where do you _think_ we're headed?"

The two Gennins stared at Shikamaru.

"A bar?" Ino suggested.

"Exactly," Shikamaru confirmed, pointing to a building midway down the street with an assortment of logos on the façade.

"But we're kids," noted Choji. "And it's not night. The people here don't look down enough to start drinking at noon…"

Shikamaru continued walking down the street. "Bars serve lunches as well."

"You sure?" Queried Ino as she and Choji followed Shikamaru.

"I'm sure. I've eaten many a meal in a bar because Dad forgot to pack us lunches when he took me to train." The boy exhaled in annoyance. "And we don't need to talk to the whole town. Just someone who knows the local scuttlebutt. What we're looking for isn't something only a few people would notice…"

"So then, fearless leader," Ino said, her voice suddenly coy. "Are you paying? A good leader _always _treats his subordinates."

Shikamaru looked back with an annoyed look on his face.

"Yeah!" Enthusiastically agreed Choji. "Asuma-sensei paid for us whenever we all went out. And I'll bet your dad paid for your lunches as well."

Shikamaru remained silent for a long moment. Ino and Choji both smiled triumphantly.

"One course," Shikamaru said, holding up his index finger. "I will pay for _one_ course each. Anything more, and you pay for it yourself. I am not made of money…"

"Ah," said Ino, cheerfully slapping Shikamaru on the back. "But you _will_ be, with those nice fat Chuunin commissions…"

Choji rubbed his hands together gleefully.

"Maaan," Shikamaru muttered. Idly shoving Ino away from him, he continued down the road.

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

Moments later, just down the street…

With Shikamaru in the lead, the trio casually entered the bar. The building was obviously the preeminent bar of the town, being made of brick, and with the interior finished in polished wood, leather, and the occasional horns. Most seats were arranged in booths, with a few free standing tables as well as the traditional long counter. The lighting was dim, and only a few of the booths were occupied.

A bearded man behind the counter noticed the ninjas arrival. "G'd aft'noon, kids. What can I do for ya?"

Shikamaru tilted his head in acknowledgement. "We're looking for a meal, and some information," he said as he hopped up onto a barstool.

Ino followed suit a pace later, and Choji took a seat next to her.

The bartender nodded, continuing to look over the new arrivals. "Meals we sell," he confirmed. "Information comes on the side. What'll ya have?"

"Chicken stir-fry," said Shikamaru gesturing to himself. "Soup and a salad for Ino and…" Shikamaru trailed off as he glanced at Choji. "Whatever you have that has the best meat-to-money ratio."

"That'd be the house cut," the bartender informed. "It'll run ya same as the other two meals together."

"Can I get a half order?" Shikamaru asked, slightly taken aback.

"Sure thing. To drink?"

"Water," Shikamaru answered. "Cold."

"Fruit juice?" Hopefully suggested Ino.

"Whatever you've got," said Choji.

"Right." The bartender reached below the counter to pull out a small bowl, poured a few nuts into it and left it on the counter. "Be back in a mi'ute," he said as he walked into the back room.

Shikamaru leaned on the bar and discretely glanced around at the other occupants.

Choji began trying the nuts.

For a long moment, Ino stared at the door the bartender went through. "Okay, That was way too casual. He either doesn't believe we're ninjas, or he just didn't notice."

"Maybe its nothing special," idly speculated Shikamaru. "We know Jiiya hires ninjas on a fairly regular basis."

"Yeah, but—"

Ino was cut off as the bartender came back out of the back room with a glass of water and a pitcher. "Right," he stated, placing the water in front of Shikamaru. Without looking, he grabbed a pair of mugs from the wall behind him and poured some juice into them. He gave the mugs to Ino and Choji and set the pitcher on the counter. "So, what's Lor' Jiiya havin' you do out Tarull way? The way I hear, the excitement been happenin' a bit south o' here."

"So much for those theories," Ino muttered to herself.

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow, but did not miss a beat. "Yeah. There's been some excitement down there. It's being worked on. But," Shikamaru continued, leaning forward slightly, "Jiiya's been hearing some rumors. Rumors he would like to be _only_ rumors."

The bartender nodded in understanding. "Missin' livestock. Yeah, we been hearin' 'bout those rumors. Terrible pity if they be true."

Choji slowly chewed on a nut, while Ino kept her face deliberately blank.

"Terrible," agreed Shikamaru. "So… How have those rumors been getting here? Stories around the fire, or…"

The bartender took Shikamaru's meaning. "Nobodies been drownin' that kind of sorrow in this bar. But we've heard stories."

"Where from?" Asked Shikamaru.

"Nowhere in the Taruji Basin, I can tell ya. If it were anywhere along the river, we would'a heard about it right quick." The bartender leaned in close. "But out Kyokoa way, they've been tellin' stories for weeks now. Small herds, lost in the brush. There was a shifty ranch-hand, may have run off, may have… Disappeared."

"Kyokoa," Shikamaru muttered, recalling the maps he had studied. "That's northeast of here."

The bartender nodded. "By the Rain boarder. 'Bout two hundred klicks. A'most a week's cart trip on the north road… Probably less for you. Moreso if ya try cuttin' cross country." The bartender paused for a minute. "A'so been hearin' stories from out west. Near the disputed area. Folks been sayin' herds ain't movin' right. That they may 'ave been spooked. But I ain't heard of no people disappearing."

"But nothing specific," Shikamaru prompted.

"'Fraid not," the bartender confirmed.

Shikamaru scowled.

"An'thin' else?" Asked the bartender.

"Not yet. But we'll be around for a bit…"

The bartender nodded to himself, then went back to the kitchen.

"Two hundred clicks?" Whispered Ino. "That's a bit out of the way."

"But the swarms can fly," reminded Choji. "So she could be able to jump over territory. Only hit where people won't notice, and not leave a trail anywhere in between."

"Yeah," muttered Shikamaru, gazing at the back of the bar.

Realizing their leader was drifting off into his own thoughts, Ino and Choji remained quiet.

A short time later, the bartender returned from the back room with a couple plates on a platter. "Hard to believe," he started as he gave Ino her soup bowl. "Two 'a you came all the way of Tarull, and nei'er of ya order beef…"

"A girl has to watch her figure," replied Ino with a wink.

"I'm actually more of a venison guy, myself," supplied Shikamaru as he accepted his stir-fry.

Noticing that the bartender had only brought out two meals, Choji spoke up indignantly. "Hey, what about mine? _I_ ordered beef…" Choji paused. "I hope…"

"'Course ya did," replied the bartender. "That's why it takes a li'l longer."

Choji smiled, more than satisfied with the answer. Picking two chopsticks out of the counter's dispenser, he eagerly twirled them between his fingers.

The bartender watched the boy with obvious amusement. Stifling a chuckle, he turned back to the back room. "Hey 'Ert," he called as he walked through the door. "This here ninja thinks he'll eat a 'ouser with _chopsticks_…"

With the bartender gone, all three ninjas paused.

Shikamaru glanced at Choji.

Ino raised an eyebrow.

Choji just smiled. "This is going to be _gooood_…"

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

A half hour later, on the main street of Tarull…

"So now that the cook can't hear, what did you _really_ think of it?"

"Not the best," Choji reluctantly answered. "They barely even tried spicing it up. But…" The ninja patted his stomach appreciably. "It was filling. I can't complain."

Shikamaru smirked.

The three ninjas stood just to the side of the bar's entrance, under a canvas overhang. The rest of the town was just as they left it, with locals meandering around going about their daily business. Most people glanced at the ninjas, and a few children pointed, but all soon continued on their way.

"So what now, fearless leader?" Ino prompted. "We've still got most of the day in front of us. And the weather is good."

"For now…" Choji muttered.

Ino rolled her eyes. "We did get _some_ information. Is it worth sticking around to try to get more?"

"I've got a feeling there won't be more to give," said Shikamaru, glancing down the street. "But we need to stick around a bit longer. We've picked up a tail that we need to spin."

Choji's eyes abruptly widened.

Ino's eyes narrowed. "You mean that isn't one of our Sand friends?"

"We don't _have_ 'Sand friends,' Ino," Shikamaru quietly corrected. "But I don't think its one of them. Operation Tailspin. Ino, you'll spin."

"Right," said Choji, starting down the street. "I'll take the market," he called back. "I should be able to chat up some more info…"

"I'll check the stables," said Shikamaru, continuing the ruse.

Ino shrugged. "And I guess that leaves the law enforcement for me. Wonder where the sheriff's office is? If they've got a sheriff's office…"

With that, the trio split up. Choji was already on his way into the heart of the city, Shikamaru headed back to the edge of town, and Ino disappeared down a cross street.

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

The same, moments later…

"Nara Shikamaru?" Hailed a voice from the side of the street.

Still on the main street, the Chuunin paused and glanced to the side. A young girl in farmer's clothes and a straw hat was looking intently at him. Shikamaru let his right hand stray towards his holster.

"You are Shikamaru, right?" The girl cautiously lifted her hat, revealing a forehead protector bearing the Hidden Leaf insignia. "I've got a message for you."

Shikamaru sighed, silently berating himself for his paranoia. "Yeah, I'm Shikamaru," he wearily replied. Glancing up at the building beside him, he absently pulled his arm back and rubbed the back of his neck. It was the subtle 'all-clear' sign the team had for covert missions.

"Good," replied the girl, missing any meaning behind the gesture. "Can we, uh…" The girl trailed off, gesturing to off to the side.

Shikamaru nodded, and casually walked to the side of the street. He and the girl took positions on opposite sides of a water barrel set beneath a roof downspout.

"Why are you walking around in the open like that?" The girl immediately questioned.

"Because," Shikamaru responded in a quiet tone, "part of this mission was to make an appearance. Now what's so important you had to tail me?"

The girl's calm slipped. "You knew I was there?"

"Of course I did," chided Shikamaru. "That's why we split up."

"But how'd you know I would follow you?"

The Chuunin rolled his eyes. "I didn't. But I knew the tail wouldn't follow Ino, because she mentioned going to the sheriff, and nobody intent on doing something bad would do it in front of officers of the law. So with the tail following either me or Choji, Ino could slip away, figure out who the tail was tailing, and then ambush him." Shikamaru absently looked out into the street. "You're new to this, aren't you?"

"Yeah," replied the kunoichi, dropping the last pretenses of her showy persona. "Abenaki Heren. They put me in a team a year early. This is actually only my second mission…"

"Fair enough," Shikamaru replied. "But a solo mission, out of the country?"

"They didn't want to spend a whole team on a delivery, and it's just a D mission, and I make good time on roads, so…" Heren trailed off with a shrug. "I'm not too good at tracking though, so I guess I'm just lucky Tarull is the first town out of the pass."

"You came through Kyko Pass then?" After a momentary pause, Shikamaru gazed at Heren out of the corner of his eye. "Your right, lucky. And I suppose tracking me through a peaceful nation _would_ sound easy."

Heren looked up uneasily. "Would?"

"What's the message?" Asked Shikamaru, changing the subject. "They couldn't have gotten the letter I wrote from Jiyaa's yet…"

"Huh? No, it's…" Heren pulled a scroll out from her back pouch. "It's a message from your parents, congratulating you on your promotion."

Shikamaru returned his gaze to Heren. He glanced at the scroll, and slowly accepted it. "This has been opened," he observed.

"Yeah."

Shikamaru kept his gaze on the Genin.

"Inoshi-Sensei read it. …To us…"

Shikamaru closed his eyes and sighed. "Ino's dad. Of course."

"You do know him, then?"

"He's a friend of my dad's…" Opening his eyes again, Shikamaru unrolled the scroll, pulled out a pen and began writing on the back of the scroll.

Heren glanced at him apprehensibly. "Uh, aren't you even going to read it?"

"No," Shikamaru replied. "The mission I was sent on is not what the Council thought it was. I'm way out of my league on it." Shikamaru leveled a serious gaze at Heren. "I need you to get this back to the Council. It is of critical importance that they see this as soon as possible."

"Why? What's going on?"

"You know how a Youma killed the Fourth Hokage? Well, we've got another Youma nesting somewhere out here."

Heren caught her breath.

Shikamaru returned his attention to his writing. "I've already sent one message, which should be arriving in a day or so. But a lot of things have changed since then. I'm putting down everything I've learned in this one. With luck, Konoha will be able so spare a brigade or so to come deal with this."

"But that'll be… It'll take eight days for reinforcements arrive, even if they leave as soon as I get back."

"I know," deadpanned Shikamaru as he continued writing. "That's why I need to deliver this as fast as possible. And I _need_ it to get to the council members and senior Jounin. Get it to them personally. And if you can't do it, get Inoshi to do it for you."

Taken aback by Shikamaru's seriousness, Heren nodded mutely.

"And lay off the perfume," Shikamaru finished after a pause. "I can smell it from here."

Heren winced and looked at the ground. "Heh. Sorry…"

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

Elsewhere in Tarull, slightly later…

"So it was just a letter from home?"

"Yup."

"So he got us all worked up for nothing…"

Ino and Choji, having met up after Operation Tailspin was called off, were wandering aimlessly around the town market. Since the talk about finding more information had been part of the ruse, neither made any attempt to talk to the locals.

"…Yup," Ino repeated.

Choji sighed. "Well, I guess it was good practice. And it's good that he's hearing from his parents. Seeing as how we may not…"

"Don't talk like that, Choji," Ino reassured. "We're going to live through this. There isn't anything that can break up the Shika-Ino-Chou connection!"

Choij grunted, unconvinced.

"Besides," Ino continued. "We've got those Sand kids with us now. All three of them are major powerhouses. And they've got skill to back it up. You heard how fast they beat the second stage in the exams…"

"Yeah. And we've both got our trump cards to play. If it comes to that…" Choji's forced confidence quickly faded. "But the way Shikamaru has been since we met the Sand team… He doesn't trust them."

"Oh, that's just a little romantic tension between him and Temari," laughed Ino. "Leftover flirting from their match in the exam."

"I'm serious!" Choji angrily countered. "And it's not between him and Temari. It's Gaara. Shikamaru knows something about him. Something he's not telling us…"

Ino sighed reluctantly. "Well, here's what _we_ know about Gaara," continued Ino in a serious tone. "He's a freak. He's got a demon in his head. He's something of sadist, when he shows any emotion at all. And he's the most powerful of all six of us. What else can there be?"

"He's not just a sadist," Choji insisted. "He's a killer. Shikamaru said it, and the Sand ninjas didn't contradict him."

"We're ninjas, Choji. We're all supposed to be killers." Ino trailed off for a moment as the duo kept walking. "Even I had to kill that one time…"

Choji nodded. "But it's different. The way Shikamaru said it, it has to be something different. And I'm afraid…" Choji broke off. "I think Shikamaru is going to send the Sand team away. I think he trusts them less than he fears Regekion."

Ino didn't immediately respond.

"The three of us can't do this alone. Even if we go all out…"

Ino slowly nodded. "Yeah…"

The duo walked in silence for a moment.

"Look Choji, Shikamaru is a smart one. He knows we our limitations. Even if he doesn't trust the Sand ninjas, he's mature enough to put that to the side for the sake of the mission. For our safety, he'll work with them."

Choji looked at his teammate, slightly reassured. "I guess," he said, more cheerfully. "So do _you_ trust them?"

Ino gave an exaggerated shrug. "As much as I _can_, seeing as how they were part of the attack a few weeks ago. But they still seem reasonable. I don't think they're hiding anything from us. And personally, those three have more reason to help us than to hurt us." Ino shrugged again. "So yeah, I think I trust them."

"They are on the same mission as we are," Choji agreed.

"_Ooh_," Ino abruptly squealed, grabbing Choji's arm. "A flower shop. C'mon, I want to see what they've got out here…" Ino began dragging Choji down the street, but was cut short halfway when Choji came to a dead stop. "Hey, what—"

"_Woooah_…"

Noting that Choji was completely entranced by something, Ino followed his gaze to the nearest market stall. "Does that say… Candied Beef?" She asked, incredulously.

"I have to try this," muttered Choji.

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o


	10. Fork in the Road

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Fork in the Road

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A hive…

"It tastes of blood."

Surrounded by her attendants, Regekion stood in the central chamber of her hive. The Youma was nearly five meters long, and built like a true insect. She had six legs, a segmented body, and an inhuman mandibled face. She was covered in a chitin carapace, elaborately detailed with engraved runes and insignias. But beyond her size and decorative adornment, what set her apart from the surrounding insects was her unarmored and oversized thorax, which glistened even in the dim light of the hive.

On the outskirts of the chamber, scourers and worker drones scurried about their business, tending to eggs and larvae, and distributing food. Occasional warriors moved through the swarms, paying no heed to the lesser insects. In the center of the chamber, more particularly endowed warriors stood in a circle around their Queen, protecting her from any distraction or mishap. A handful of attendant insects bred especially to tend the Queen were also inside the honor guards' circle. Of all the insects in Regekion's presence, only two were not bred to be there: a lone scourer and the scouting drone that had led her back to the hive.

"I cannot say why," said the drone, in her windy voice. "There had been no violence around the boy that sand was taken from."

Regekion looked past the drone. "I know." She said, in a voice that was almost musical. "The blood was not recent. It was absorbed deep into the sand, encrusted around every granule. There were different flavors in it. That sand has been soaked in the blood of many humans."

Regekion scurried forward, brushing aside the drone and scourer. Her retinue adjusted accordingly, clearing a path for the Queen.

"That boy was not using the techniques of Shukaku, he _was_ Shukaku. The Sand Coon has been reincarnated. His chakra was as thick in the sand as blood of the humans he killed." Regekion paused, thinking. "He is allied with the human shinobi, or he is controlled by them. The Sand and the Leaf are still allied, and they are aware of me…"

Regekion reeled around, gazing at one of her attendants. "Go to the farms," she ordered. "Inform the caretakers that I will be changing the procedures for all gestating warriors. And begin preparing brosia cells."

The attendant and several warriors scurried away as ordered.

As they left, Regekion looked up at the beams of sunlight that pierced through the ceiling of the hive. "The Rain has pulled back, and the Stone has yet to move. But the Sand and the Leaf… These scouts of theirs must be dealt with. Not even Shukaku can protect them this time…"

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

Early afternoon, Taruji Valley…

"Ah yeah… Just smell that…"

Gaara and Kankurou were situated near a small, nearly smokeless fire in the lee of a berm. Three dead snakes were skewered on sticks and roasting over the side of the fire. Gaara was sitting cross-legged, staring through the fire, while his brother was laid back, with his eyes closed, enjoying the respite. Karasu lay off to the side, as some newly applied epoxy seals dried.

Gaara glanced at his brother. "Smells normal."

"Normal, yes," the puppeteer agreed. "But good. Normal can be good."

The younger boy smirked, slightly. "Temari is coming."

"That's nice," replied Kankurou, not looking up.

A moment later, Temari appeared in the camp with a flourish.

"Welcome back," greeted Gaara.

Still laid back, Kankurou just raised a hand. "Yo."

"'Yo,' yourself," Temari returned. After tossing her fan to the side, she unclipped a canteen from her sash and tossed it to her brother. Kankurou caught it with minimal movement. The kunoichi proceeded to produce another canteen for Gaara, and a final one for herself. "Just something I picked up in town."

"Aaaah, liquid bread!" Kankurou sat up with exaggerated effort. "Cheers!"

Temari glanced at her brother out of the corner of her eyes. "It's milk."

"Aaah," Kankurou repeated, rolling his eyes. "Liquid cheese. Cheers." The boy promptly unscrewed the cap and took a swig.

Gaara smirked at his brother's performance.

"_Nueh_?" Kankurou exclaimed, bringing his head back down. "This tastes different than the stuff we get back home."

"Milk in Wind Country comes from goats," Gaara supplied. "This likely comes from cows." Gaara proceeded to take a drink himself, far less dramatically than his brother.

"Even still," Temari added, looking at Kankurou. "You should say thanks. I didn't _have_ to get you any."

"Thank you," Kankurou promptly replied. "You even brought it chilled. Help yourself to a snake. We even started cooking them for you."

"How long?" Asked Temari.

"Give them two more minutes," Gaara supplied.

Putting aside his canteen, Kankurou chuckled a reached into his second side holster. "Heh, and check this out. The snakes even came with rattles." The boy tossed a small conical rattle to his sister. "I'm keepin' these for toys to give to my kids. Souvenirs from the great demon hunt that made Daddy famous."

Temari shook the rattle experimentally before tossing it back to her brother. "Whatever."

"Hey," said Kankurou, suddenly quite serious. "If we _do_ live through this, it'll mean something. We won't remember this as just another mission. And the lords back home… Well, who cares what the lords think, the people will think we're heroes."

"If they hear about it," Gaara deadpanned.

"They'll have to!" Kankurou argued indignantly.

"Don't be so sure, little brother," said Temari. "The Wind Lords don't want us to be heroes, they want us gone. If we survive this, they won't tell anyone about our mission for fear we'll use our success to rally support for a power play against them. They'll keep quiet, and they'll order us to do the same. And if we _don't_, if we tell the city about our mission against the council's will, we'll just end up looking like a bunch of spoiled kids." Temari sighed. "We can't beat them like that…"

Kankurou scowled. "Yeah, well… They'll know we're too strong to just push around. We'll at least get some respect."

"Or you'll get assassinated," Gaara dourly informed. "That's what they do when you get to powerful…"

Kankurou didn't respond for a moment. "If they try that… Then Wind Lords or not, we'll fight back."

Gaara gazed at his brother. "Fighting back won't make it stop."

"Yeah it will," Kankurou grimly argued. "No offense Gaara, but you never fought back the right way. You don't just kill whomever they send after you. You kill the people sending them."

"Even if it's the Lord of Wind Country himself?"

"Even if it's your own father," Kankurou replied. The ninja looked his brother in the eye. "Ordering someone into a situation where they might die a lot different than ordering their death. Crossing that line cuts any bonds of loyalty. Someone who does that is your _enemy_. It's that simple. I'll never understand why you didn't kill Dad…"

Gaara lowered his gaze.

"Bah…" Muttered Kankurou. "Lets eat…"

The three siblings ate in silence for a moment.

"Have you always been that bitter?" Temari asked at length.

"Naw, I've had to work at it." Kankurou took a bite out of his snake and chewed on it for long moment. "Look, this family isn't the greatest one to grow up in. You can't be an optimist after living with Gaara."

Eating silently, Gaara's expression remained neutral.

"And frankly, the less said about any of our parents, the better," continued Kankurou. "Even granting that Dad was the Kazekage, and a busy guy, he was a horrible father. Even to us," Kankurou added, glancing at Temari.

"Then you don't miss him?" Quietly asked Gaara.

Kankurou scoffed. "That Leaf exile killed him and took his place, and we didn't even notice the difference. You can't miss someone you don't know."

"How could we have noticed?" Countered Temari. "We didn't even see him after he was replaced."

"My point exactly," continued Kankurou after another bite. "What kind of father would go that long without even seeing his kids? Even a strict professional would have at least acknowledged that we made it to the final tournament. He didn't even nod to us in passing. There were Jounins I never met that did more than that."

"Baki did more than that," added Temari with a chuckle. "I think he almost cracked a smile at one point."

"Oh come on, Baki was practically beaming! Considering the way he normally acts…" Kankurou trailed off with a chuckle, but sobered quickly. "But Baki… Baki I'd miss. He at least—"

"The Leaf ninjas are coming," Gaara cut in.

Kankurou shrugged and let the topic drop.

A moment later, Shikamaru, Ino, and Choji, crested a nearby hill.

"Hey!" Called out Temari, holing up her fan. "Over here."

On the hilltop, Shikamaru sighed and let his shoulders drop. Ino and Choji, on the other hand, quickly leapt to the camp.

"Mmmh," greeted Choji as he arrived. "Smells good."

"Back off, fat-ass," warned Kankurou, holding his skewered snake defensively over his shoulder.

"Besides," added Temari, "you already ate."

Ino put her hands on her hips. "Now how did you know…" Ino broke off, flustered. "You _did_ tail us! I knew it was one of you guys!"

"No you didn't," dismissed Temari. "You forgot about the tail as soon as you saw that messenger girl."

"So you admit you were spying on us!"

Temari raised her eyebrows mockingly. "Yeah."

Ino pointed angrily at Temari, but could come up with nothing fitting to say.

"Whatever she said, Ino," chided Shikamaru as he reached the campsite. "Forget about it. It's not worth getting worked up over."

"Does she do that often?" Asked Gaara.

"Yes." Shikamaru dropped his travel pack and abruptly sat down.

The other Leaf ninjas reluctantly followed suit. Though Choji's eyes lingered on the Sand ninjas' meals.

"So," Temari prompted a moment later. "What did you learn?"

"Two contradictory leads," flatly stated Shikamaru. "First, more confirmation of trouble on the Rain-Steppe western border."

"As if we needed any," interjected Kankurou.

"Also reports of missing cattle by the northern border. It's a few days northeast, with one possible human casualty."

"Y'know," cheerily suggested Ino, "with all this border talk, we might be able to go back to that bandit scenario…"

"I wish," muttered Choji.

"How is that contradictory?" Thoughtfully prompted Temari. "We know Regekion has _been_ out here, but that doesn't mean her swarms can only be out here."

"There's nothing keeping her from splitting her swarm into multiple divisions," Gaara added.

"And it fits," finished Kankurou. "Since we've been tracking her, she's been heading steadily northeast."

Shikamaru shook his head. "No. You're forgetting that we've already disproved the pattern you thought she was going in."

"Because you saw a site three weeks old," Kankurou argued. "Our pattern started two weeks ago. Ever since then, she's been on a steady path. Our pattern holds."

"Regekion is known to roam," reminded Temari. "I told you that on the mountain this morning. It's quite possible she was up here three weeks ago, then went south and into Wind Country, and has been heading back north since then."

"You also told me Regekion sticks to dry climates," Shikamaru agued. "She needs mostly dry, dusty, or rocky soil for her incubating burrows. She's not going to find that up near Rain Country."

Temari used her skewer to gesture towards Shikamaru. "She's doing a lot of things differently this time. The swarms didn't eat this much before. She would have never slaughtered forty cattle in the old days. She's obviously changed her tactics. There's no reason not to believe she's headed east."

"You want to go east, fine," spat out Shikamaru, tired of arguing. "But we're going west. There's got to be more evidence out there. And we're going to find it even if we have to scour every meter of Steppe Country."

"So, what, we're just going to split up and go our separate ways?" Asked Kankurou.

"Two leads, two teams," reasoned Shikamaru, idly shrugging his shoulders. "Seems sensible. It's been fun, but it's time we were on _our_ way again."

"Shikamaru, wait!" Loudly cut in Ino. With Choji gravely looking on from beside her, the kunoichi grabbed Shikamaru by the shoulder and forced him to look at her. "I know you're the leader now, but this a _bad_ idea. There is strength in numbers! We can't break up like that and expect to beat a Youma swarm! The three of us aren't strong enough to go it alone."

Shikamaru leveled a grim gaze at Ino. "We have—"

"They're half-assed schemes that we've never tried before!" Exclaimed Ino before Shikamaru could finish.

"And they both have as much of a chance of taking us out as they do of taking out who we use them on," added Choji. "Shikamaru, you wouldn't let us leave the group when it was just us. You've got your squadron now. We can't waste it like this."

Kankurou scoffed. "Who says we're _his_ squadron?"

Shikamaru glanced at the Sand ninjas, all of whom were looking on with visible interest. "You're not," he said succinctly.

"Shikamaru," repeated Ino, "The Sand ninjas are stronger than us. Whether you think they're dangerous or not, we need them. We can't split up!"

"We won't be engaging the Regekion the moment we find her," Shikamaru spat out. "We can scout as we are. We'll have reinforcements here in a week and half. If we do find the mother swarm, we can tail it, recon it, and then attack once we get the forces we need."

"If it comes!" Yelled Choji. "We can't count on reinforcements right now! Not with the beating our village just took."

"And there's no guarantee you three could keep hidden from the swarm for long," added Temari. "You don't have a year's field experience between you. You've been lucky to get this far."

"Nobody asked for your opinion," Shikamaru sullenly muttered.

"Well, I'm giving it," Temari retorted. "Chuunin or not, I'm the oldest here, and the one with the most experience in the field." The kunoichi set her skewer on the ground and gestured forward with her right hand. "Look, Shikamaru does have a point. Despite there being strength in numbers, without a clear trail to hound or any definite boundaries to the conflict, going everywhere in a team of six is a waste of manpower…"

"Right," Shikamaru indignantly cut in. "Our options are to split up into two teams of three, three teams of two, or one of four and the other of two. Three of two is out because not even you are ready to tail a Youma with only one person backing you up. Four and two is out for the same reason. That leaves two teams of three, and the best way to do that is to split it down Country lines. You want to look east? You three look east, my team will go west."

"And get slaughtered," Kankurou finished. "Suppose we're wrong. Temari, Gaara, and I are off doing nothing for a week, while you three little weaklings are wandering alone with who knows how many packs of insects looking for you."

"Even if you let none escape yesterday's encounter," said Gaara, finally speaking up. "Regekion will notice the disappearance of an entire party. She'll be able to guess what happened to them. There is a good chance that she will now begin gearing her swarms for combat, rather than foraging."

Frustrated, Shikamaru stood and walked a few paces away. "So what you're suggesting," the Chuunin began as he leaned against a small willow. "Is that we divide into teams of one from one village, and two from the other. Just because of power."

"Basically," condescendingly answered Temari. "Face it Shi-kun, you _need_ it."

Shikamaru gazed at Temari through narrowed eyes. "No _we_ don't. There is more to a battle than raw power. Regardless of the stats going in, real fights are won through tactics and coordination. Asuma-Sensei has drilled that into our team from the first day we were together, and it's gotten us through everything so far. You think we're weak?" Shikamaru paused as he glowered at Kankurou. "We survived the Forest of Death just as easily as you did, despite being the weakest of the weak going in there. And it's all because we work smoothly as a team. I'm not breaking that up over a perceived lack of raw power."

"Shikamaru," Ino quietly began. "You know I talk up this team more than anyone. But this isn't the time or the place for that. We got this far because we picked our fights. If a whole swarm comes after us…"

"We can't coordinate if it's ten to one," finished Choji. "If we're that outnumbered, it'll come down to each of us being cut off and forced to fight alone. We won't last like that."

"Then we won't let it come to that," replied Shikamaru.

"You can't plan for everything, Shikamaru," Ino persisted. "This assignment should have driven that point home by now. If our team gets ambushed, and we've got to assume that Regekion will try to do that, we'll need a powerhouse to break out and give the team a chance to regroup. And the breakout can't leave that powerhouse incapacitated."

Shikamaru didn't respond, while Ino and Choji continued to stare at him.

"Look, Shikamaru," continued Ino. "You may have your reasons for mistrusting them that much. But Choji and I don't."

Kankurou smirked and raised his arm. "I call the flirt for my team."

"Shut up," spat Shikamaru. "I am not splitting my team."

"I think you're being voted down on this one," said Temari, glancing at Ino and Choji.

"This isn't up a vote," replied Shikamaru, making an effort to keep his voice level. "And why are you so hung up on splitting the teams, anyway?"

"Because," supplied Gaara. "Alone, your team would die."

Shikamaru's eyes narrowed. "And that would really bother _you_, wouldn't it?" He all but whispered.

"Look," cut in Temari, "we're trying to kill Regekion too, and that'll be a lot harder if we loose the only allies we have out here. Besides," the Kunoichi added with a shrug, "I'd rather not see anyone die on my mission. Even if they aren't _officially_ part of my team."

"So now we're _your_ team?" Choji quietly joked.

"Shikamaru," continued Ino, "you're the only one who doesn't like this. Everyone else agrees it's for the best."

The Chuunin closed his eyes and loudly exhaled.

Kankurou chuckled, taking Shikamaru's reaction as a sign of submission. "Okay then! Temari, you and Gaara watch over the fat-ass, I'll be with Ino and Shikamaru."

"Absolutely not," argued Shikamaru.

"Stop calling me 'fat,' _damnit_!" Warned Choji, getting to his feet.

"Hey!" Yelled Ino as she pulled Choji back. "Calm down…"

"Kankurou, you missed the entire point of splitting the teams," Gaara quietly interjected. "The point was to give each team a member capable of taking on most of a swarm single-handedly. You have been trained to be an elite. But you are not _that_ good."

"Hey," replied Kankurou, rather defensively. "With Karasu I can…"

"Karasu is no good in a melee," Temari agreed. "To use your puppet to its fullest, you can't be worrying about your own safety. If a whole swarm attacks, you'll be reduced to brawling."

"Just like last time," added Choji, eager to get a dig on the Sand ninja.

"Kankurou, you will be with Gaara and I," said Shikamaru in a level voice. "The second team will be Ino, Choji, and Temari."

Temari leaned forward. "So I'm stuck babysitting those two?"

"No," Shikamaru replied. "You'll be taking orders from those two."

Temari balked. "What?"

Ino's eyes lit up. "Really?"

"If we're splitting up across country lines," reasoned Shikamaru, finally looking up. "Then it means we _are_ in the same squadron. _My_ squadron. I'm pulling rank, and I'm putting Ino in charge of the second team."

"Whoo-hoo!" Ino threw up her arms in a light-hearted cheer.

Temari looked at the ground and grumbled to herself.

"Temari is also not that good," quietly argued Gaara.

Shikamaru instantly locked eyes with Gaara.

Gaara continued unabated. "In a straight fight, Ino and Choji are the most vulnerable of the six of us. If they are on the same team, then the third member of that team must be able to overwhelm the enemy if necessary. Temari is good, but I am better."

Shikamaru's voice dropped an octave. "No. Way."

"I am the only one here that powerful," Gaara finished.

Noticing the change in their leader, Ino and Choji silently gazed at Shikamaru. Temari and Kankurou looked on with similar interest.

"There is no way," continued Shikamaru, oblivious to the others, "that I am leaving my team, alone, with _you_."

Gaara looked back at Shikamaru, understanding the reason behind the Chuunin's stare. "You have my word, no harm will come to them."

Shikamaru continued staring, unmoved. "What makes you think I can believe that?"

Gaara continued staring back. "I am not the person I was when we last met."

"You've found a new purpose in life?"

"No. Not yet." Gaara glanced at his siblings out of the corner of his eyes. "But I have _lost_ my old one…"

Ino slowly raised her arm. "Say what?"

Shikamaru glanced at his teammates, then at Temari and Kankurou. With his expression hardening, he walked around the campfire and crouched in front of Gaara. "If you're lying…" He warned, barely even whispering. "If either of them are hurt…" Shikamaru trailed off. "Your sand can't protect you from the shadows. Hurt them, and _I_ will kill _you_."

Gaara continued to stare back, affected. "As I said, you have my word."

"And you have _mine_," finished Shikamaru.

"Shikamaru…" Said Ino, uncomfortably. "That's not a good way to instill loyalty…"

Kankurou leaned over to his sister. "Our 'leader' just threatened Gaara," the boy whispered. "This is going to be _fun_."

Shikamaru abruptly stood up and began walking back to his side of the camp. "Ino," he ordered. "You're taking your team west…"

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o


	11. Quiet on the Western Front

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

Quiet on the Western Front

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

The next day, to the west…

"So what now?"

Standing atop the crest of a ridge, Ino, Choji and Gaara looked out over the highland plain before them. The next ridgeline was fading into the horizon, nearly ten klicks away. The land between the two ridges was almost perfectly flat, and stretched south as far as the eye could see. The plain was vegetated with tall grass, regularly punctuated by brush patches springing up to three meters high.

With her hands on her hips, Ino thoughtfully surveyed the scene. "Now, we search the valley. This is exactly the sort of place that we're going find something. Wide open space, abundant prey, no creeks, but plenty of light cover to hide in. If I were an insect, this is the sort of place I'd nest." Ino paused as she looked to the next ridge. "Besides, if we go much farther west we'll run into the disputed lands."

"What prey?" Asked Gaara, skeptically. "There is no one here, nor is the plain set up for livestock."

"Open range grazing," answered Choji. "Apparently there's a lot that out here. They just let the herds run wild, then every few years go out and round up a bunch of them, drive them to a city, and…" Choji finished with a gesture across his neck.

"Who would let livestock loose like that?"

Ino chuckled. "These aren't sheep, Gaara. Or goats. Out here, they have cattle, and cattle can fend for themselves. There aren't many shepherds east of the Magoi Mountains." Ino glanced at Gaara before continuing. "Besides, in a place like this, there's going to be some wild game as well. Deer, alpine gazelles, mustangs, maybe even some wild boar. Everything you need to feed a hive of hungry insects."

Choji looked at Ino apprehensively. "You really think Regekion is here now?"

"We should be that lucky," Ino muttered. "No. Odds are she isn't here right now, but I'll bet she's _been_ here. She likes to wander, right?" Ino asked, addressing Gaara again. "But she has to settle down to nest every once in a while. This'd be just the place to do that."

Gaara nodded. "In our briefing, we were told Regekion's swarm nests in scrapes. Shallow tunnels and holes in the ground, usually at the base of rise or in a patch of trees."

Choji looked out over patchwork of scrub trees. "Great…"

"Regekion's larvae incubate in cells of about three by one and half meters," continued Gaara. "Usually cut into the dirt and reinforced with mud. There may be shed skins or discarded egg material left behind. We were not told of Regekion trying to cover her tracks, but it should not be ruled out."

Ino nodded and looked back over the valley. "Well, that should be pretty obvious if we spot it. Look for those, or any large mass of dead game. Should be just as obvious."

"And if we do find any of that?" Asked Choji.

"We look at it, see what else is around, and see if we can figure how long ago Regekion left it."

"And if we find Regekion?" Gaara prompted.

Ino bit the side of her lip. "Depends. If they don't notice you, fall back and quietly get everyone else. If they attack you, fight back and make a lot of noise to get the our attention." Ino glanced at Gaara, mentally debating with herself. "Well… Don't try to fight them unless you know you can take them all. And even then… If we kill a squad, Regekion will know someone is here… So…"

"We cannot win if we do not attack," stated Gaara.

Ino glanced at Choji, then back at Gaara. "I know, but… We don't want to start this fight until we know we can finish it. With the others away…"

"There's no guarantee we'll find the mother swarm," pointed out Choji. "We took out that last swarm and haven't been attacked for two days."

"Okay," agreed Ino, abruptly changing tones. "Search and destroy. If you can take them, kill them. If you can't, find the others and we'll have the whole team attack. And _you_," Ino pointed at Gaara. "Try to take one alive. Wrap it in sand or something. If we could interrogate a drone, we might get something useful."

Gaara nodded.

"So we're splitting up?" Observed Choji.

"Only to cover more ground," Ino amended. "Stay within sight of me. I'll be in the center, Choji, you stay to my right, Gaara, stick to my left. We'll meander as necessary, but our overall course will be south along the valley."

"Right!"

Gaara nodded again.

"And whenever you can, stick to the high ground or get on top of those bushes. It'll help us keep in contact." Ino paused a moment to adjust the straps on her travel pack. "Team Ino-Gara-Chou, let's go!"

With Ino's pronouncement, the two Leaf ninjas leapt down the side of the ridge. Gaara remained where he was, watching them leave. After a moment, he silently chuckled to himself. At his bidding, sand pulled itself out of the hillside and formed a small platform in front of him. Gaara stepped on the sand, which proceeded to carry him to the base of the hill.

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

The same valley, later that afternoon…

"Gaara…"

Nearly ten klicks south of where they had entered the plain, Gaara ceased his leaping and looked back. Almost at the limit of his sight, a figure was perched atop a brush patch. From the way she seemed to be stretched out, and from her voice filtering through the breeze, she was obviously trying to get his attention. Composing himself, Gaara closed his eyes and sub-vocalized the necessary incantation.

A moment later, he appeared next to Ino in a swirl of sand.

"_Gah_!" Ino leapt to the side in surprise, landing in a defensive stance on the ground below. After glancing back at where she had been, she relaxed. "Don't _do_ that!" She admonished. "Sheesh. Can't you just skip across the landscape like a normal ninja?"

"I'm not a normal ninja," Gaara reminded her.

"Yeah, I know," mumbled Ino. "But you still shouldn't try to scare me like that."

"I wasn't trying to scare you." Gaara paused as he watched Ino exhale in exasperation. "You've discovered something?" He prompted.

Ino nodded, gesturing for Gaara to follow her. "Kill site. Choji saw it. It's by a soggy patch near the western ridge." Ino paused, looking back at her subordinate. "And get there _normally_…"

Gaara tipped his head to the side, making a show of acknowledging the order. With very deliberate movements, he then proceeded to leap to the next brush over.

"Better," said Ino, before sprinting forward herself.

As they traveled, Gaara glanced at Ino. Though he could leap far enough to jump from brush-top to brush-top without trouble, Ino seemed confined to the ground. She was continuously sprinting, veering around brush in her path and banking off or rises in the ground. The kunoichi managed to do all the course corrections with having to check her momentum. After a moment, she leapt up, and sprung off a low patch of brush to get a view of the land ahead of her. Landing in a run, she regained her stride barely missing a beat.

After a moment, Gaara slowed his pace slightly and took a position roughly alongside Ino. "You named this team?" He blurted out.

Ino glanced up at the boy, a bit surprised he was trying to strike up a conversation. "Yeah," she responded as she turned her attention back to the ground ahead of her. "'Course I did."

"Why?" Gaara persisted. "This isn't permanent."

"It may be," Ino dryly joked. "If one of our teams has a bad run in with Regekion…" Ino veered away from Gaara as she went around a depression. "But seriously, why wouldn't I?"

"Shikamaru wouldn't have."

"Shikamaru doesn't name anything on his own," Ino retorted.

"He does not truly consider us on the same team," Gaara clarified.

As much as she could while sprinting, Ino nodded. "Yeah," she agreed. "He's got some serious issues with you."

"Understandable. Given what he knew about me."

"Knew?" Prompted Ino. "Past tense?"

"As I told him yesterday, I am not the person I was during the exam." Gaara paused a moment. "I was dangerous then. He would be right to mistrust me."

"Something about you killing assassins from your father?" Ino suggested.

The Sand ninja nodded his head as he continued forward. "Yes. What my father did… What he meant to do… Weighed heavily on me. It left me empty. Hollow. My sand made me invulnerable, but I had nothing to live for. The only thing that gave me meaning was killing."

"Ick," Ino blanched. "I'm _glad_ you're not that person any more. So what changed? Your dad dying? Or it your fight with Sasuske, right?"

Gaara abruptly slowed, hopping off the brush tops and coming to a stop on the grass. Noticing his reaction, Ino skid to stop and cautiously walked back to him.

"No," Gaara mused, as if revealing something profound. "It wasn't Sasuske. Sasuske reaffirmed everything I knew to be true."

"What?" Balked Ino. "No, Sasuske wouldn't have done that. Sasuske is—"

"A killer," finished Gaara. "I saw it in his eyes. The same empty rage, the desire for power, same driving need for vengeance that I had known since I was a child. He is everything I was."

Ino pulled away slightly, uncomfortable hearing Sasuske described in those terms. "Then…"

"The change," continued Gaara, "came from Rock Lee and Naruto."

"Naruto?" Repeated Ino. "The loudmouth in the orange jumpsuit? Lee I can see, but what could Naruto have to do with anything?"

Gaara gazed at Ino. "You truly don't know?"

"No," Ino honestly replied.

"Then I don't think I can explain it, myself." Gaara closed his eyes for a moment. "I suppose… Naruto… And Lee… Both sought power, like I did. But their reasons for doing so… Were beyond my comprehension."

Ino scratched her head skeptically. "Uh, as far as I know, Naruto just wants to be the best because it will get him attention. Lee just wants to make his sensei proud." Ino shrugged. "I suppose Sakura comes into it somewhere, heavens know why…"

Gaara opened his eyes and gazed at Ino. "But you see, even now, I can't see how that could drive them enough to matter."

Ino stared at Gaara for a moment. "That's messed up," she quietly observed.

Gaara nodded imperceptibly. "It is what happens when you grow up unloved… And unkillable." Without waiting for Ino to respond, Gaara ended the conversation by leaping away.

o o oo o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

A short time later, elsewhere in the plain…

"Uh, Choji?"

When Ino arrived at the kill site, Gaara was already there. The Sand ninja was standing on a slight rise, dispassionately looking around. What had caught her attention, however, was Choji, who was standing in a patch of thinned grass, seemingly pantomiming something.

When her teammate did not respond, Ino crossed her arms and walked up to the boy. After wrinkling her nose from the smell, she addressed him. "Choji, what the heck are you doing?"

Choji held up a hand to delay taking notice of Ino. Instead, he rolled from a standing position onto his toes, then back down. Contorting around to look at his feet and the impression they left in the dirt, he repeated the gesture.

With her arms still crossed, Ino watched impatiently.

"That way," Choji confirmed after repeating the motion a third time. Walking a short distance away, he looked down to mark his position, and then held out his hand. "From here, that way." The boy shuffled over to a third location. "And here, that way." Choji met Ino's gaze. "North by northwest."

Ino raised an eyebrow. "Oooo-kay?"

"You can see the insect tracks this time," Choji explained. "They're different, six stick legs, so it's hard to find, but this time they're there. I think I've figure out what the tracks look like when they are walking, and right here," Choji gestured downward, "is where one of those walking trails ends. Same with there and there." Choji gestured to the previous to placed he had been. "And from the way they moving, and the way the tracks are different where they jumped away, they all headed roughly the same way. North by northwest."

Ino raised both eyebrows, genuinely impressed. "Okay," she repeated. "Do we know how long ago?"

Choji's expression went blank. "Uh…"

"Two and half weeks," injected Gaara. "Give or take a few days. Long enough to have attracted more mundane scavengers."

Choji nodded. "Yeah, I did see some wolf tracks. Or coyotes, or really big foxes or whatever they have out here."

Ino shook her head. "Whatever. Too bad it hasn't been here long enough to stop smelling."

A bit of sand shot up from beside Gaara and crushed a fly that was buzzing around his head. "Indeed."

Trying to think through what she needed to find out, Ino looked back at Choji. "How many? Carcasses, I mean."

"Seven," answered Choji. "And a lot more spread out than the first one we saw. All in line going that way… I think the cattle saw them coming this time. So they had a chance to run."

Ino rubbed her chin. "Were these all that were in the herd?"

"No," answered Gaara. "Tracks continue beyond the last carcass."

"Have either of you tracked where the rest of the cattle went?"

Choji shrugged. "No. Why would I have?"

Ino held her hand in front of her face to gesture for emphasis. "We've seen these swarms take out herds of forty at once. They wiped out a town of at least twenty-five _people_ without letting anyone escape. And they could give ninjas a close fight." Ino paused for a moment to let her words sink in. "So why only take seven cattle here?"

Silence hung in the air for a moment.

"Part of a trap?" Choji hesitantly suggested.

"For cattle?" Gaara deadpanned. "If they could take care of themselves _that_ well, they would not be livestock to begin with."

"And there's no way it could have been for us," Ino continued. "None of us were even on the trail that long ago. That can't be the reason…"

"Regekion's driving the cattle," deduced Choji, struck by the observation. "She's moving them to where she wants them. To a hive…"

Ino gulped, tilting her head to the side to hide the reaction. "Gaara," she ordered. "Take point. We'll be right behind you."

Gaara grimly nodded.

"And everyone," Ino finished, "the trail may be old, but stay quiet."

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

Soon after, elsewhere in the plain…

"You can come forward," Gaara grimly informed. "There is no reason to fear…"

Gaara stood at the top of a break in a plain. The break was due to the beginning of a new ridge. Further north, the ridge blended into the adjacent ridges, forming the western boundary of the plain. But where Gaara was, the ridge was barely discernable. The land slowly rose from the valley floor until abruptly ending in a fifteen-meter drop of bare rock. The drop curved back to the ridge, diminishing further as it went, but effectively creating a wedge of low ground with steep slopes on all sides.

"Unless you are easily disturbed," finished Gaara and Ino and Choji joined him.

Ino flinched away as soon as she looked down.

"Damn," swore Choji, wincing.

"I had wondered about the smell in the air," said Gaara. "There was the smell of death. But not of blood…"

"Because Regekion stripped them clean," concluded Ino, tentatively looking down again.

Gaara nodded. "To the bone."

Below the ninjas, cattle bones were strewn across the foot of the ledge. Few skeletons remained intact, most having been ripped to pieces in the scouring. Nor was the pile of bones directly below them the only kill site in sight. Similar piles were scattered all along the ridgeline.

The ninjas took in the scene in silence.

At length, Ino spoke up. "How many insects would it have taken to do all this?" She asked in wonder.

Gaara closed his eyes.

"A lot more than we were expecting," Choji faintly replied.

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o


	12. Stormfront

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

Stormfront

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

Kyko Pass, central Steppe Country, late afternoon…

"Alright, keep moving…"

Not for the first time, Heren regretted taking the main road back to Konoha. At the time, it had seemed like the only reasonable route. She was, after all, a lone wet-behind-the-ears Gennin in a foreign and somewhat exotic land. She was not adept at cutting across country, least of all through mountains. Besides, there had seemed no reason to leave the main road. She could let it guide her as she leapt through the forests beside it, and at night or during poor weather she could easily disguise herself as a peasant traveler and take shelter at the roadside inns.

The problem was that the road was being watched.

Heren caught wind of the situation while dining at one of the inns. As she stepped out afterwards, she caught a glimpse of another ninja leaping through the trees. The sighting had spooked Heren, and she had been walking along the road like a normal traveler ever since.

Still on the road, the Leaf ninja blew into her hands to relieve her tension. The situation had only gotten worse since then. A rainstorm had come up, dropping the temperature significantly and soaking the road. But more importantly, a checkpoint had been set up at the end of the pass. The gates, which had been open and unguarded when she had come through the pass a few days earlier, were now guarded by a pair of ninjas who were personally inspecting each traveler that passed by.

"Okay," called out one of the ninjas. "Next party. Move it along…"

When Heren arrived at the gate there was already a line of people waiting to pass through. She had yet to get a clear view of the ninjas doing the searching, but the other travelers informed her that they were from the Village of the Hidden Rain. Though there were only two ninjas visible, Heren knew there was a good chance that others were nearby, patrolling the road, or watching to see if anyone tried to slip past the posted sentries.

Heren anxiously rubbed her hands together. There were only a few people left in front of her.

"That took forever," complained the traveler being searched. "I hope you're not planning on doing this for long. I take this road three times a week, and I can't afford to waste a two hours each time!"

"Well, you're going to have to," suggested one of the ninjas, a male. "This was ordered by Chief Kazaki, personally. So until he tells us otherwise, we're staying here, and you're just going to have to wait in line."

"What a waste," the traveler repeated. "Why's he doing this to us…"

"For your own safety," the second ninja, a kunoichi, replied as she directed the traveler through the gate. "There is danger in the air. You wouldn't want any threats wandering around with no one to counter them, would you?"

The traveler grumbled as he disappeared into the rain beyond.

"You with the kids," said the male, addressing the next in line. "Come on up."

A woman with two children and a donkey pulling a cart walked up to the gate.

"Very dangerous," Heren heard the kunoichi mutter. "I'm glad we got assigned all the way out here. Could you imagine if—"

"Just check out the cart," cut off the boy.

Now first in line, Heren got a clear look at the two ninjas manning the checkpoint. Both were dressed in dark grey, held umbrellas over their shoulders, and almost blended into the rain. The male was the larger of the two, wore a straw hat with his forehead protector woven through it, and was asking the woman a series of questions. The kunoichi was grudgingly looking over the donkey and cart, wore a plain straw hat, and had strips of brown cloth sewn into her tunic, resembling misconstrued animal stripes.

The male ninja glanced at his teammate then nonchalantly shook his head. "Ah, you're fine," he told the woman, waving her past. "Next!"

Rubbing her hands together nervously, Heren stepped forward. She was still disguised as a peasant, and her forehead protector and weapons were safely tucked away in her pack, but they wouldn't escape a thorough search. Despite herself, Heren began to sweat.

"Name and reason for being on the road," the lead ninja casually prompted.

"A—Ara Ketell," Heren lied. "My grandparents live in Tarull and I—" Heren abruptly broke off, noticing the kunoichi was looking at her from the side. Glancing up, she caught her first look at the ninja's face. The woman's eyes were yellow, with a narrow black slit for an iris. Heren inadvertently gasped.

"She doesn't look right," the kunoichi muttered to her teammate. "She's—"

A more experienced ninja could still have bluffed their way out of such a situation, but Heren was inexperienced, and on edge. Before the kunoichi finished her observation, Heren attacked. Letting chakra flow to her hands, she activated the ninjitsu technique she had subtly started when she first got in line. The leaf ninja thrust her arms into the kunoichi's face and released a spray of weak acids and foul smelling liquid.

The Rain kunoichi fell back in surprise and agony.

"Hey!" Yelled the second Rain ninja as he drew out a kunai.

Heren whirled around before he could attack and sprayed him as well. The ninja's umbrella was out of position, but he managed to raise his weapon arm into position to keep the spray from his eyes. However, the spray spattered around the arm and the ninja caught a mouthful of the spray instead. The male dropped to the ground in a fit of coughing.

Ignoring the startled cries from the line behind her, Heren turned her attention back to the kunoichi, who was doubled over and all but clawing away at her face. Just for good measure, Heren hastily repeated the necessary seals and gave the kunoichi a second dose of the spray. With the last bit of noxious liquid still dripping from her wrists, Heren kicked open the gate and ran.

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

The same time, near thenorthern boarder of Steppe Country…

"Ow! Ah, what the…"

After a day and a half grueling days of traveling, Temari, Kankurou, and Shikamaru were almost to Kyokoa. Since leaving the Taruji Valley, they had been traveling through an almost endless expanse of hills, covered mostly with scrub oak. The vegetation had made moving difficult, since the trees were too bush-like to do the branch jumping that worked so well in Fire Country, and too dense to move effectively through on the ground. Instead, the ninjas had been forced to skip along the tops of the trees, almost constantly applying the chakra-enhanced balancing technique to keep from falling.

The weather had cooperated for the first day, remaining warm and sunny. However, since that morning, a cold wind had been blowing from the north, and now the ninjas were in the midst of another thunderstorm.

Awkwardly balancing himself on a flimsy branch, Kankurou raised his arm to shield his face from the storm. "Ice! Screw that!"

"I think I agree with you," said Temari as she wiped some water from her face. "There's a pretty thick grove down there," the kunoichi indicated. "It should shield us from the worst of it. Come on." Having said her piece, Temari hurriedly leapt towards the grove.

Kankurou turned to face the direction he had come from, taking a moment to rebalance himself. "Hear that, slowpoke?" He yelled out. "We're calling it a day!"

Clad in his cloak and with his hood drawn over his head, Shikamaru briefly appeared beside the Sand ninja. "I heard," he said, startling Kankurou. Before the boy could give his angry retort, Shikamaru had leapt away.

Kankurou scowled, synched up his grip on Karasu and his travel pack, and followed.

A short time later, all three ninjas were sitting in a nearby depression. They were all within a few meters of each other, each sitting with their backs to tree trunk.

"Rain, I can take," began Temari, arms wrapped tightly across her shoulders. "And wind is no problem. But wind _and_ rain…" Shivering visibly, Temari pulled her legs up to her chest and hugged them tight. Even with her fan opened and propped up to shield her from the driving rain, her teeth were chattering.

"And hail," muttered a winded Shikamaru, who had drawn back completely into his cloak.

Kankurou rubbed his arms together to increase circulation. "Hell? This sucks, but I'd hardly call it hell…"

Shikamaru straightened up and cast a withering glance at Kankurou. "Hail," he wearily repeated. "When ice falls during a storm it's called hail."

"I thought that was snow," commented Kankurou.

"Snow is different," Shikamaru patiently explained. "Snow is fluffy and white and only falls when the temperature is below freezing."

"Heh. And we've got to be a good two degrees too warm for that," weakly joked Temari.

"Yeah," muttered Shikamaru, glancing over at Temari. After a moment's hesitation, the Chuunin sighed and unclasped his cloak. "Here," he said as he reluctantly tossed the garment to Temari. "Take it."

Temari snatched the cloak and raised an eyebrow at Shikamaru.

"Hey," Kankurou called out indignantly. "How come you just give it _her_? I'm miserable here too, y'know."

Settling back against his tree, Shikamaru began rummaging through his travel pack for his spare jacket, not even glancing at Kankurou. "Because you're a guy. You can take it."

"So what's that supposed to mean?" Prompted Temari in an annoyed voice. "You gave this to me because I'm a _girl_, and I _can't_ take it?"

"Pretty much," agreed Shikamaru, not finding what he was looking for.

A balled up wet cloak smacked Shikamaru on the side of his face.

"Well, if you don't want it…" Began the Chuunin as he casually pried the cloth off of himself.

"I never said that!" Quickly interjected Temari as she snatched the cloak back. "It was just the only thing I had at hand to throw at you." Settling back against her fan, Temari rather embarrassedly wrapped the cloak around her shoulders.

Shikamaru closed his eyes and leaned back against his chosen tree trunk. "Pft. Women…"

The three ninjas lapsed into silence, shielding themselves from the storm as best they could.

"Thanks, though," said Temari a few moments later. "I mean that."

"Eh, you needed it the most of anyone here anyway," dismissed Shikamaru. "I've already got a shirt, a jacket, and a vest, your brother has a full body suit and hood, all you're wearing is a dress with a low neck."

Temari grinned weakly.

"Ah, you just did that to for your own sake," joked Kankurou. "You knew that if she were just sitting there in a wet dress she'd catch you staring at her sooner or later. If you didn't do something to cover her up you would have been headed for a beat-down."

Shikamaru spared Kankurou another withering glance. "Grow up."

Kankurou scoffed. "Says the little kid."

"Who's a Chuunin," Temari reminded with a wink.

Kankurou rolled his eyes. "Oh, so just because he gives you his cloak, you're going to take his side."

"I'm not taking sides," the kunoichi replied, "just pointing out the obvious."

"Beh…" Kankurou grunted and went quiet.

"So why _do_ you wear that?" Asked Shikamaru after a slight pause. "Almost anything else would make more sense in a fight."

"It doesn't slow me down," Temari argued.

Shikamaru glared at Temari.

Glancing down at Shikamaru's cloak, Temari weakly shrugged. "Well, until now…"

"She does it for the same reason Ino goes around in that half-skirt and leg wrap," answered Kankurou. "To show some leg and troll for boys."

"I am not trolling for boys," denied Temari.

"_Oooooooh_…"

"The only one headed for a beat-down is _you_, little brother!"

Kankurou couldn't quiet get the smile off his face, but he did hold up his hands in submission. "Kidding, kidding…"

Temari muttered under her breath before looking back over to Shikamaru. "Look," she said, "our village has several standard outfits that most ninjas follow with a few personalized variations. For kunoichis, this was one of them, and I liked it."

"Of course, all the _other_ girls use that outfit to show off," Kankurou muttered to himself.

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow before closing both eyes. "Still doesn't seem practical. But whatever…"

"It doesn't get in my way," Temari persisted. "Even with this I've been outpacing you these past few days."

"Yeah," agreed Kankurou. "We've both been outpacing you. You've lagged behind almost since we left. How do they let a weakling like you call himself a Chuunin?"

"Because I use my head," Shikamaru quietly replied. Looking up, he continued with a note of curiosity in his voice. "How do they let two ninjas like you call yourselves Gennin? I haven't seen either of you do anything that stupid. And physically, you've dominated every fight I've seen you in." Shikamaru glanced Temari's way. "Including ours. So what's been keeping you back?"

The Sand siblings glanced at each other.

"No insult," persisted Shikamaru, holding up one hand. "I may have humiliated you before giving up, but with one more minute you could have had me unconscious. You both took out your share of drones a few days ago. Why are you still Gennin?"

"Because," hesitantly began Temari. "There isn't much room for new Chuunins in Wind Country."

Shikamaru cocked an eyebrow.

"The Wind Lords are tired of having a ninja village in their midst," explained Kankurou. "They've been subtly discouraging people from hiring local ninjas ever since the current chief lord got his position. There hasn't been much money going around to sustain a large ninja corps."

Temari shrugged. "No money, no promotions."

"And your village is just sitting back and taking it?"

Kankurou glanced at his sister. "They don't tell us much about the politics behind these things, but I don't think our village has much of a choice. There are some tensions in Wind Country, and lots of it is against the Village of the Hidden Sand. If we tried to oust the chief lord and install one of ours…" Kankurou momentarily trailed off. "Well, we'd have a civil war on our hands. We've got some inactive clans that would love to rise up against the Sand, and it would be an open invitation for any other villages to interfere and take us down a peg."

"Mn," observed Shikamaru. "That would be troublesome. But in the meantime, your village withers away…"

"And that Leaf exile's meddling didn't help any," muttered Kankurou.

"We're not withering away yet," Temari countered. "Dad… The last Kazekage took steps to insure our survival. He's changed the focus of our village to make each ninja an elite, even among ninjas."

"Well, that's worked on you," Shikamaru acknowledged. "But not so much on the rest of your village. When you attacked, our side gave as good as we got."

Kankurou scoffed. "Yeah, well, Dad's plans weren't the greatest to begin with. He also thought creating Gaara was a good idea. Sticking a demon in a kid… You apparently know how that turned out."

"Yeah," agreed Shikamaru.

"And now," continued Kankurou. "They send us out here to die. Just because… All things considered, I'm sure I'd care if our village withered away right now…"

Shikamaru glanced at Temari to see her reaction to Kankurou's statement, but all she did was stare listlessly at the ground. Letting the subject drop, Shikamaru rubbed his arms together and settled in for the remainder of the storm.

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

Central Steppe Country…

Breathing heavily, Heren closed her eyes and looked up into the rain. She was standing on a rock in the center of creek, a full two klicks off the main road. After running the checkpoint, she had wanted to leave the road as soon as she could to avoid being noticed by other travelers as she passed by. Unfortunately, by that point she had a good deal of mud caked in the treads of her sandals, which would have given away her trail even in the trees. In her rush to get away, she started by ricocheting from trunk to trunk form one side of the road to the other, trying to jar loose as much mud as she could with each impact.

Then she had come to a switchback, where the road turned sharply to go down the mountain at a reasonable slope. Inexperienced as she was, she leapt out past the road before thinking through the consequences. Fortunately, the six seconds of freefall she went through gave her more than enough time to plan her landing. As it was, she survived the incident with only a few bruises and a tear on her palm from when she tried to catch and swing around a branch.

The end result of her leap was that it put a big hole in her trail. Heren capitalized on the break by running down the nearest stream she found. After following it for another ten minutes, she finally decided it was safe to stop and catch her breath. And to wash away the lingering effects of her Algonquain technique.

"Shikamaru was right," Heren muttered to herself, still letting the rain wash over her face. "There is something out there. Something big enough to scare that… Kazaki guy."

Heren wiped her face and looked down. "She said 'all the way out here.' So I should be safe here. From whatever scared them, at least…" Heren glanced at the satchel she had put Shikamaru's scroll in. "The Youma. That's gotta be it. The Rain ninjas know about the Youma Shikamaru is tracking." Heren broke off, abruptly realizing the implications of her statement. "The Rain ninjas may be tracking the same thing he is. He could run into the whole company of Rain ninjas…"

Absently, Heren pulled out a vial of pine-scented oil and rubbed a handful into her wrists. Automatically slipping the vial back in its pocket, she tightened her grip on her satchel. "Well, I guess I'll have a story to for Uncle Kenin sooner than I thought." With that, Heren leapt into the trees and continued her way to the Fire Country border.

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o


	13. Cloudbreak

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

Cloudbreak

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

Western Steppe Country, nightfall…

"North by northwest," stated Choji, numbly. "That's where we are relative to the site I found. They were headed here."

Choji was kneeling next to a small pile of branches, preparing some kindling at the base of it. Ino was standing a short distance away, looking out over the plain. The two of them were in the depression they had found, but well away from the ridges to avoid the lingering smell of death.

"Yeah," Ino replied. "I had figured that. They met up with everyone else here."

Finishing up, Choji struck a sulfur stick from his travel pack and lit the campfire. "There were too many of them here, though. Their prints have been trampled over too much. I don't think I could possibly track which way they went from here."

Ino sighed. "Because they had to go somewhere else." The kunoichi wearily shook her head. "I don't get it, Choji. There was nothing here. All those ridges, all that cliff-side, and not one sign of a nest. No burrows, no scrapes, incubator holes… Not even a discarded shell! Why bring all those animals here if there's nothing nearby?"

"I think we're just going to have travel rations tonight," meekly informed Choji. "I haven't seen so mach as a lone rabbit around here…"

"Why?" Ino repeated, ignoring Choji. "It just doesn't add up…"

A moment later, Gaara appeared in a swirl of sand.

Sitting a short distance from the fire, Choji looked up. "No luck?"

The Sand ninja glanced to the side and promptly took a seat. "I found no sign of our quarry." Gaara paused. "Beyond what we already knew."

Ino exhaled loudly and joined her team around the fire. "How many animals?"

"Some thousands," the boy replied. "I cannot say for sure, but I do not believe that matters."

"Not really," Ino agreed.

"Many of the animals were herded from the north," Gaara supplied. "All approach the ridge perpendicularly, but if you follow the trail out far enough, most veer north." The Sand ninja paused for a moment, giving the others a chance to respond. When they didn't, he continued his observations. "The land starts to rise only twenty klicks north of here. No doubt it becomes hillier until the ridges close in from both sides. Regekion has likely used the landscape to funnel all herds south, to this location."

"But why?" Ino persisted. "There's nothing here."

"There's a cliff," supplied Choji. "You drive the animals off a cliff, and they die. Right there. You kill all the herds in the same place…"

"Like harandous in the cupboard…"

"Huh?"

"Ants," Gaara clarified with a slight shake of his head. "A particularly hated strain of ants that nest in the mud walls of homes. They are known for swarming over any food left unsealed."

"Ick," muttered Choji.

"But that's what you were getting at, wasn't it?" Ino prompted. "You're thinking Regekion had everything driven here, so it could be eaten en mass."

The leaf ninja nodded. "It makes sense, doesn't it? If you know there's a lot of food in a certain place, you just keep sending insects to that spot. They carve off what they can, go back to the nest, come back and carve off another load…" Choji absently gestured to the cliff face. "You'll have a steady stream of insects coming and going until you've stripped it clean."

"While other insects drive more prey to the chosen spot," Gaara finished. "If that is the case, there is likely little prey left in the entire valley."

Ino glanced between her two teammates. "That makes sense on its own," she argued, "but not with what else we know! Choji, that first attack we saw wasn't nearly this clean. There was still lots of meat left on those cows. And the other site we saw…" Ino gestured to Gaara. "You're team hasn't mentioned anything like this before. Everything else we've encountered has been a strike in the open by scouting party of insects."

"Maybe they've gone back to those old sites," Choji offered. "The only one we saw up close was that first one…"

"That incident killed forty, did it not?" Prompted Gaara. "It is possible that instinct drove the insects to kill all the animals there, even through there were not enough insects to eat them all."

Ino rubbed her forehead in frustration. "But that still doesn't explain why that was a random hit, while this seems so…" The kunoichi trailed off as she looked up. "Systematic."

"This could be closer to the nest," Choji suggested. "Wherever that is. Or it… No, this was two weeks old."

"By my guess, the tracks coming in ranged from fifteen to twenty seven days old," supplied Gaara. "This was a long operation."

Ino shook her head. "All this… Not even two days from Tarull…"

Choji held up his hand. "Two days for us. For regular people, probably a lot longer."

"But for Regekion, much less," Gaara interjected.

"So why hasn't she attacked the town?" Ino asked. "There's lots of 'food' there."

"Because that would attract attention," suggested Gaara. "Thus far, she had gone out of her way to avoid being noticed."

"Except she wiped out an entire mining camp," Ino countered. "And that's what got us out here. What made her think she could get away with that, and not anything else?"

"Or," added Choji, dragging out his words, "what made her think that was worth the _risk_, when nothing else was?"

The three ninjas lapsed into silence for a moment.

Ino eventually shook her head. "Man, I wish Shikamaru were here, because I just can't figure out how this adds up…"

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

Northern Steppe Country, predawn…

"Get up, you two. We're moving out."

Kankurou skeptically raised his head. "You're kidding, right?"

"Do I look like I'm kidding?"

After over an hour of rain, the storm had run its course. The sky to the north was clearing, with the last of the clouds rapidly moving south. The moon was waxing, and together it and the stars dimly illuminated the landscape. There was still a cold wind blowing, but not so cold as before.

After glaring at Shikamaru for a moment, Kankurou muttered something inarticulate and pushed himself to his feet.

Already standing, Temari flushed the last bits of water from the folds of her cloak. "So we're moving at night?" She asked rhetorically.

"You two are supposed to be better than regular Gennin…" As he spoke Shikamaru pulled a small flashlight out of his travel pack. Cupping his hand around the end of it, he briefly turned it on to ensure it still worked. "You should be able to handle it. Just keep in mind that it'll be slick out there."

"Yeah, _we_ can handle it," said Kankurou as he rubbed the stiffness out of his neck. "But what about you? I saw you doze off a couple times. Are you really sure you're up for this right now?"

"If I have to, I can go all night."

Kankurou paused for a moment. "Okay, that just sounds dirty."

"Stop talking," Shikamaru ordered.

"You think he's bad now, you should try living with him," commented Temari. "Here," she said as she tossed Shikamaru his cloak. "It was nice during the storm, but it'll only slow me down."

Shikamaru shrugged and put the already folded cloak into his travel pack.

"I take it we're still headed to Kyokoa," Temari prompted as she secured her fan in her sash. "What's the hurry?"

"My contact in Tarull only said he had heard stories 'out Kyokoa way.' I don't have anything more specific than that, and I'm not about to waste my time searching blindly for something that may or may not be connected to my mission."

"Still not buying it, huh?" Asked Kankurou.

Shikamaru ignored the interruption. "I want to get to Kyokoa and find out where these stories are coming from. If there's a missing person involved, there's got to be an area associated with it. I want to get to that place as fast as we can so I can get an accurate gauge of the situation." Shikamaru rolled his shoulders to adjust his grip on his travel pack then leapt to the treetops. "Now come on," he called back.

Shouldering Karasu, Kankurou glanced at his sister. The elder Sand ninja tilted her head to the side and leapt after Shikamaru. After sighing in annoyance, Kankurou followed suit.

Despite Shikamaru's head start, the two Sand ninjas quickly caught up to him.

Slowing her pace to match his, Temari glanced over at the Chuunin. "So then, '_fearless leader_,' she said, putting extra emphasis on the title. "Are you paying? A good leader _always_ treats his subordinates…"

Shikamaru cast a withering gaze at Temari.

The kunoichi was about to wink when Shikamaru tripped up and fell face first into a thicket of scrub oak. Both Sand ninjas quickly came to a halt.

"Watch out," called back Kankurou as he tried to suppress a chuckle. "It's slick out here."

Cursing mildly, Shikamaru pulled himself out of the tangle of branches. Though essentially unhurt, he had picked up large assortment of scratches.

"You'd think a Leaf ninja, of all people, would be able to handle himself in the trees," observed Temari, unable to hide her amusement.

"Shut up," muttered Shikamaru as he tenderly felt a scrape on his forehead. "And no," he angrily retorted after a pause. "I'm not paying for you two because we're not eating there. I wouldn't be paying even if we were."

Having made the suggestion in jest, Temari wasn't put off by Shikamaru's response. She was however, curious as to what he planned to do in Kyokoa. "Wait, so you weren't planning on checking in at the tavern this time? Then where _are_ we going?"

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

Kyokoa, dawn…

"About time you got here."

Having just closed the door to his office, the Sheriff of Kyokoa stumbled back against the wall. The office was still dark, but just enough light filtered through the window blinds for him to make out three figures standing behind his desk. Each of the figures wore a shiny patch of metal, which the sheriff instantly identified as ninja insignias.

"I always figured it would end like this," the sheriff muttered to himself, feeling the side of his waist for his dagger. "Who sent you? Tell me that at least…"

"Nobody you would know," sarcastically replied one of the ninjas.

The shortest ninja, who wore his insignia on the side of his arm, crossed his arms in annoyance. "Don't try to fight us. We really don't have the time for it. Just tell us what we want to know and we'll be on our way."

Not fully reassured, the sheriff slowly raised himself up. "What do you want?" He demanded.

"We've heard rumors about missing livestock somewhere near Koykoa," the woman of the group replied. "If that's true, we think we have some business with those responsible."

"Tell us where, tell us when, and tell us the circumstances surrounding any suspicious disappearances of cattle, or people."

"You're talking about the ranch hand?" The sheriff prompted. "That was nothing. The old drunkard left his post for a bar and didn't come out for a week."

"And cattle?" The short ninja prompted again.

"There's been some rustling," the sheriff continued. "Bit outside of town. Somewhere near Dyokin's Hill. Been going on for the better part of a month now. We ain't sure where the cattle are going, but people are thinking it's across the boarder. No strangers have been selling us cattle back, no one is flashing money around they shouldn't be having… Rain country is the only place they can be disappearing to."

The sheriff watched hesitantly as the ninjas glanced at each other.

"That'll be it," one of the ninjas informed.

The sheriff winced, still half expecting a killing blow to follow. But none did, and when he looked around again, his office was empty.

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

A road just outside of Kyokoa…

"Not bad. I didn't think you had it in you."

Making an effort to avoid the patches of mud along the road, Shikamaru, Temari, and Kankurou trudged up a hill overlooking Kyokoa. Temari was leading the group, casually eating a roll she had snatched from one of the town's vendors. Shikamaru was wearily following, keeping his eyes on the ground ahead of him. Kankurou, the most lively of the bunch, brought up the rear.

"Had what in me?" Shikamaru half-heartedly asked.

"That," replied Kankurou. "That whole scene back there. Scaring that guy witless and all."

"You've seen him act threatening before," Temari countered.

Kankurou scoffed. "Yeah, but not like _that_. He's never played himself up as a ninja. A real cold-blooded callous life-taking ninja."

"Actually, he did threaten to cut your throat a couple times," Temari pointed out after swallowing.

"Well…"

"I don't act like a heartless life-taker, because I'm not a heartless life-taker," Shikamaru muttered. "That isn't the sort of ninja Konoha produces."

"Then Konoha doesn't really produce 'ninjas' at all, does it," Kankurou prompted. "Ninjas kill. It's the most basic principle of the shinobi."

Shikamaru sighed and looked up at the sky. "We kill. But it's our last option. Not our first."

Temari chuckled. "The Bloody Mist you are not…"

"How do you keep influence like that?" Asked Kankurou. "How do people take you seriously if they know they can jerk you around some and still live?"

Shikamaru cast a withering gaze at Kankurou. "Because some people won't work with others unless they _can_ jerk them around a little. Look, I don't care if you don't do things like we do, but don't knock it. If the Leaf didn't operate the way we do, you wouldn't even be alive right now."

"Pft." Unable to help herself, Temari rolled her eyes.

"And you're why," commented Shikamaru, turning his gaze to Temari. "Remember that cheap shot you tried to get in during the prelims? Remember what it did to Rock Lee?" Shikamaru paused a second for emphasis. "If Lee was a life-taker, he would have torn you apart for that."

Temari stopped short.

"Hey," argued Kankurou, coming up behind his sister. "If he tried that, I'd be down there in a second."

Having passed Temari, Shikamaru turned to face the ninjas and raised an eyebrow. "To do what, exactly? If Lee meant to kill you, those weights on his legs would have come off in a second. If you were lucky, they wouldn't have come off flying towards your heads. And even then…" Shikamaru pointed at the Sand ninjas and wagged his finger. "You two are good, but I haven't seen anything from either of you that could counter what Lee did."

Biting her lip, Temari looked down at what was left of her roll.

"Alright," continued Kankurou after a moment. "But Gaara did beat that kid. What makes you think he'd just stand there and let us die?"

Amused, Shikamaru raised his eyebrow again.

"What makes you think Gaara _wouldn't_ have just stood there, little brother?" Temari asked in a soft voice. "Remember who we're talking about, here…" Temari reluctantly looked up at the Leaf ninja. "Point taken, Shikamaru. So are you saying I should apologize to Tenten when this is all over, or what?"

Shikamaru shrugged and turned around to continue walking. "It's not my conscience," he said, holding his hands slightly out to the side. "And I barely know the girl. It's not like I owe her anything…" Before he got any further, the Chuunin abruptly stopped and turned around. "Why are we talking about this?" He demanded.

With her mood quickly lightening, Temari chuckled. "Because you weren't telling us our next move, and you weren't taking us anywhere in a hurry," the kunoichi pointed out. "As far as my brother is concerned, that's an open invitation to lead the conversation wherever he wants it."

"It is not," Kankurou retorted.

"I thought it was obvious what we were doing," Shikamaru said as he crossed his arms. "The sheriff said the cattle were disappearing around Dyokin's Hill. Therefore, we are headed to Dyokin's hill to investigate."

Kankurou regarded Shikamaru for a moment. "Okay, fine. But do any of us have any idea where Dyokin's Hill is? I don't remember anyone asking that, and you haven't looked any of your maps. Shouldn't we figure out where we're going before we leave the town?"

Shikamaru shook his head and sighed. "Konoha doesn't teach its ninjas to be heartless mercenaries," said the boy as he continued up the road. "But they do teach us how to find our way around."

Hastily finishing off the last of her roll, Temari brushed off her hands. "That, and they taught you how to read. I saw the sign too, Shikamaru."

Kankurou's head tilted to the side. "Sign?"

Temari looked back and grinned. "A road sign, little brother. Haven't I told you that you miss things when you talk to much." Flashing her brother a mocking grin, Temari leapt past Shikamaru.

Grumbling to himself, Kankurou eventually followed suit.

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o


	14. Off the Map

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

Off the Map

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

The forest to the north of Kyokoa, mid morning…

Perched in a tree at the edge of a clearing, Shikamaru abruptly held out his hand. "Hold up," he quietly ordered.

The trio had left Kyokoa two hours ago, and had quickened their pace since then. The scrub oak had given way to fir with scattered deciduous patches and long slices of natural meadows. Near the town, the meadows were fenced off and occupied by flocks of sheep. But as they went father into the mountains, the meadows became wilder, and cattle became the livestock of choice.

Coming to a stop on the ground below, Temari took a few steps forward and looked up. "Something wrong?"

Crouched in a bough of leaves on a nearby elm, Kankurou nodded. "Yeah," he answered, looking out beyond the meadow. "Unless that's not Dyokin's Hill over there."

Shikamaru, staring intently at the broad, multi-peaked mountain that rose beyond the meadow, nodded grimly. "That is Dyokin's Hill. Those two bowls on the southern face match the icon that was on the sign."

"But if we've reached it already…" Temari prompted.

"I figured it would be a day away, at least," Kankurou mused.

"If this is Regekion," Shikamaru continued, answering Temari, "then she's struck unusually close to a city. And since cattle have been reported missing rather than mutilated, something different is going on here." Shikamaru glanced at his two teammates. "Temari, pick your path and take point. Kankurou, fan out to the left, I'll go right. Keep an eye on everyone else, and stay alert…"

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

The western boarder of Steppe Country, noon…

"Well, I for one actually find this comforting…"

Glancing at his teammate out of the corner of his eyes, Choji scowled. "I don't think I could ever find this comforting, Ino."

After breaking camp in the morning, Ino, Choji, and Gaara had moved south through the valley. They spent the early morning going over ground they had already covered, but the new terrain just proved to be more of the same. They had seen no large game, but now knowing what to look for, they did find several tracks headed north. Ignoring these, the ninjas continued south. After a few hours of covering new territory, Gaara had spotted something unusual in the grass. Upon closer inspection, it had turned out to be another kill site.

"Oh, come on," the kunoichi shot back. "Thirty-some odd dead antelope, stripped, left open in the field. This at least we understand. A swarm of those scourers came, killed and ate the animals, and left." Ino sighed and looked over the spectacle. "At this point, that is comfortably routine."

Choji shook his head and sighed. "Y'know, I _was_ hungry before this…"

Ino rolled her eyes. "Gaara?"

"This was not recent," the Sand ninja observed. "The bones are over two months old."

"Yeah," Choji agreed, kneeling beside one of the skeletons. "It doesn't smell, there aren't any flies, and the bones look like they've been gnawed on. Grass and creeper vines have practically covered them up completely."

Glancing between the two boys, Ino brushed her signature strand of hair to the side of here face. "Okay, so this does give us something new. It means Regekion has been active for at least three weeks longer than we thought she was."

Choji nodded, standing back up. "And it means she did use her hunting parties out here before she used that ridge for a slaughter house. She's been stepping up her operations."

"Two incidents to not create a pattern," interjected Gaara. "Nor does it tell us anything of what Regekion is actually doing."

The two Leaf ninjas quietly regarded Gaara for a moment.

"The attack at the ridge would be a natural progression as Regekion's swarms get stronger," Gaara continued. "But that would also imply the acquisition for a permanent base. A nomadic Regekion would have neither the need nor the resources for such a large-scale harvest. Yet, we have found no hints as to where this base is."

"How could we?" Asked Choji. "Even you agreed we couldn't track the insects from the ridge." The boy glanced back down at a nearby skeleton. "And all the tracks here have already been grown over…"

Ino exhaled loudly. "Our only real option is to just keep going. If we find enough kill sites, eventually we'll be able to figure out where they're centered around. Some of them may even have some take-off prints that we can get a vector from."

"So we continue following the valley?" Gaara prompted.

"I called it yesterday," said Ino as she held up her finger. "'Regekion has been in this valley.' And I was right. She may even still be here. If we keep going south, we may find another operation like we saw up north. And if it's still running, we'll have the perfect chance to follow the insects back to their nest."

"Great," said Choji, with no enthusiasm whatsoever.

"But before that," Ino continued, "It's just about lunchtime. I'm hungry, and not for something as old as that," she said, pointing to a scattered pile of bones.

Gaara smirked.

"If we find another one of those gopher colonies," Ino prompted, turning her attention to the Sand ninja, "could you catch them? Without, y'know, mashing them into a pulp or anything."

"Of course," Gaara replied, tilting his head slightly to the side. "Lets go."

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

Dyokin's Hill…

"See it now?" Asked Kankurou in a quiet but firm voice.

"Wait…"

Temari nodded. "Trip wire."

The allied ninjas were on the south face of Dyokin's Hill, standing on a rock outcropping. The outcropping was small, and in the midst of the towering fir forest. Before them, a game trail laced its way through the trees. However, the trail bore a handful of subtle signs of human tampering.

"Okay, I see it now," agreed Shikamaru a moment later. "Damn, this is troublesome."

Kankurou nodded grimly. "Yeah. Very basic, but pretty well done. Whoever did this has got some skill."

Noting his tone, Temari glanced at Shikamaru. "You think someone else is tracking—"

"_Shit_!" Abruptly swore Kankurou. As he did, he grabbed Shikamaru's shoulder and pulled the younger ninja backward. Shikamaru lost his footing and fell, while Kankurou ducked down himself. A pair of darts whizzed through the air where they had stood a second earlier.

Temari reacted just as quickly, pulling out her fan and firing off a retaliatory gust back to the darts' origin. The wind blades cut a tattered swath through the forest, but hit no one. With her eyes anxiously scanning the scene, Temari stood over the two boys with her fan defensibly spread in front of her. For his part, Kankurou eased to the side, putting himself in a better position to react to the next attack. Favoring his shoulder, Shikamaru turned himself over to see what was going on.

"Well dodged, Windy," came a voice out of the forest.

Shikamaru, Temari, and Kankurou all turned sharply to the right, where a man had appeared amongst the trees. The man was full grown, and dressed in forestman brown. The right side of his face was tattooed, with strings of black spines stretching from his hairline down to his neck. He wore a brown, pocketed vest, reminiscent of those worn by Chuunins. However, he bore no insignia.

The man smiled, his tattoos giving him an unhinged looked. The ninjas on the rock outcropping carefully set down their travel packs and stood up into defensive stance.

"The first appearance is always a feint," Shikamaru muttered as the two Sand ninjas glared at the new arrival. "Temari… To his right."

"And behind us," added Kankurou.

"I know," Temari muttered back. "The one who threw those darts is to his left."

The figure Shikamaru spotted was a stringy figure dressed in loose fitting pants and an open vest. The boy, an older teenager, wore the beginnings of a goatee and a long brown ponytail. He had a few weapons attached to his belt, but his main weapon was a long bo staff he held in his hands.

The woman Kankurou had spotted was perched halfway up a fir tree, with her back pressed against the main trunk. She was dressed entirely in tan leather, with boots that came up past her knees, shorts that only covered a few inches of leg, and halter-top that covered even less. What did cover her was the boa constrictor that was draped across her arms, neck, and lower torso. On average, the snake was as thick as the woman's leg and was over five meters long.

Barely distinguishable from the forest beyond, the figure Temari had seen was similar to the man in the jacket. However, he wore a simple jerkin rather than a flack jacket, and wore armored gauntlets on both wrists. The man's clothes were all stained to blend better with the forest, and his face was painted black and green.

"Just what we needed," complained Shikamaru as he and his teammates eased closer together.

"Sand ninjas," observed the painted figure. "Looks like your lucky day, Harsi."

The lady with snake smiled. "So they are, Giyam. A bright day for all Oregis."

"Aw crap," Kankruou muttered. "The Oregi clan. Haven't they given this up yet?"

The figure in the jacket stepped up. "We are not all Oregi, Sandy. Just as you are not all Sand ninjas." The figure fixed his gaze on Shikamaru. "Ah," he said, with a small amount of pride. "A Konohate. And in command. Just where we belong."

Temari growled, impulsively stepping forward.

Amused, the jacketed figure raised his arm and encouraged Temari forward. "Come, little Windy. I'll show you what a Leaf ninja does to kunoichis."

Shikamaru tapped Temari on the arm before she could be egged on any further. "The only Leaf ninja that I can see," the Chuunin said, subtly projecting his voice, "is _me_. And I _am_ in command. So if you're really from Konoha, you should show some respect to a superior officer and _back off_."

"Pretty uppity for Jiiya's new errand boy," observed Giyam.

"I'm starting to think all Konohates are like that," quipped the kid with the bo.

"Don't jerk with me, kid," the leader warned. "_I_ am in control here, and _I_ will not be pushed around by the likes of you."

"And you are?" Asked Shikamaru, unimpressed.

"The one Jiiya sent you to kill, Hagane. My name is Togai Ken."

"Never heard of you," Shikamaru replied. "And I'm a Nara, not a Hagane."

Ken's expression darkened. "Don't lie to me, kid. You won't convince us you just stumbled here on your way to deliver a message. And it wouldn't save you anyway. Jiiya sent you here, and you're as good as dead."

Still holding her fan defensibly, Temari momentarily fixed her gaze on Ken. "We actually weren't sent here to kill you. But we've got nothing against doing so anyway."

Ken extended his arm again, gesturing for Temari to come forward. "Bring it, bitch."

Shikamaru preemptively grabbed hold of Temari's arm. "Don't," he harshly ordered. Ignoring the look Temari gave him, the Chuunin kept his attention fixed on the figures surrounding him. "We can't afford to risk a fight that has nothing to do with Regekion. We're wasting our time here."

"Oh, no you don't, Nara," cut in Ken. "I told you, you're not leaving here alive, under_ any_ circumstances!"

Her eyes narrow with anger, Temari tore her gaze away from Shikamaru and back to Ken. "You think you can kill us?" She asked, this time trying to egg him on. "How? There isn't a _real_ ninja among you."

Ken's face hardened. "A piece of metal doesn't make you a ninja. And not having one doesn't keep us from being ninjas. We've all been trained. We've all killed. We've all lived the life!" Ken thumped his chest for emphasis. "We've all _earned _our place as shinobi!"

As Ken's outburst ended, Shikamaru disdainfully watched him out of the corner of his eye. "You flunked out of the academy," he deduced. "You left your country, and you took up life as a bandit. Congratulations, you're a shinobi. Now get out of our way. We don't have time to deal with you."

"Too bad," countered Ken.

"I think we're going to have to fight our way out," observed Kankurou. "Not that I'm complaining. But it is four on three, and they've got an Oregi. We _could_ use some strategy right about now."

Shikamaru scanned the field for a moment. "Fine. Plan D, version 1."

Kankurou winced in exasperation. "Dumb-ass," he said, opening his eyes again. "Temari and I don't know your code—" Kankurou was cut off as Shikamaru unceremoniously shoved him off the rock outcropping. As he lost his footing, the boy let out an undignified yelp and tumbled to the ground.

Shoving Kankurou without even looking back, Shikamaru kept his gaze fixed on the three ground-based bandits. All their attention was drawn to Kankurou the moment he started moving, giving Shikamaru the opening he was looking for. Clasping his hands together, Shikamaru muttered the incantation for his Shadow Imitation. His shadow immediately shot away in three directions. Ken and the teenager were caught before they realized what was going on. The painted bandit, however, had managed to slip away.

"I've got two of them," Shikamaru yelled as Temari watched her brother hit the ground. "Take them out, Temari!"

Quickly understanding the situation, the kunoichi slid down the rock outcropping and brought back her fan. As she did, however, she saw movement out of the corner of her eye. Reacting instantly, she whirled her fan upward. She was rewarded with the sound of a dart deflecting off metal. Just as quickly she reset her feet and sent another gust of wind through the forest towards the dart's thrower. But again, the gust missed its mark. As its wake began to fade, Giyam dove down at Temari from the treetops.

Recovering his footing, Kankurou urgently glanced up. "Punk!" He yelled out. "Behind you!"

Shikamaru leapt to the side just as Harsi landed on the rock outcropping. Though she had missed, her boa constrictor had already started slithering beyond the reach of her arm and struck the back of Shikamaru's neck like a lariat. The boy tumbled in midair, hitting his head on the ground as he landed. Jarred by the twin impacts, Shikamaru lost control of the Shadow Imitation. Rolling to the side reflexively, the boy clutched his forehead in pain and tried to reorient himself.

Standing confidently at the top of the rock outcropping, Harsi extended her arm towards the fallen Leaf ninja. "Karai," she ordered. "Finish him."

At her order, the snake silently darted forward, arcing from Harsi's arm to the outcropping and on to the ground. From there Karai lunged straight at Shikamaru. The boy had just enough of his wits about him to roll to the side. Karai's body continued past him, but her head instantly arced around to face the Chuunin.

Still acting on instinct and fighting off the urge to panic, Shikamaru pulled a kunai from his side holster. As he did, the boa lunged at him again. Shikamaru whirled to his left, taking a wild swipe at Karai in the process. The attack missed, and Karai began gathering up her body just beyond Shikamaru's reach.

In an attempt to take the initiative, Shikamaru darted towards the collected folds. Karai predictably pulled the folds away, while her head darted in from the side to counterattack. Anticipating her move even as she anticipated his, Shikamaru whirled on his foot and slashed at the snake's head. The strike missed, but Karai was forced to awkwardly pull back.

Shikamaru moved to press the advance, hoping to drive Karai's head away from the rest of her body, thereby limiting her mobility and ability to counterstrike. But as he lunged forward he snagged his foot and took another fall. This time he took a blow to chest as he landed on an exposed root. The Chuunin had the wind knocked out of him and dropped his kunai as a result. Frantically looking back, Shikamaru saw that Karai's tail was wrapped around his ankle.

In a panic, Shikamaru tried to hick the snake off him with his free foot. But Karai quickly looped a coil around the second leg, binding it to the first. At the same time, Karai folded a stretch of her body across his side holster to deny Shikamaru access to his weapons. In response, Shikamaru twisted his torso to the side and reached behind his back to unbutton his back pouch. But before he could remove anything from it, Karai's head forced itself under his side and around his waist, pinning his wrist to his back in a vicious hammerlock.

With control of Shikamaru at two points, Karai easily folded herself over the back pouch and began coiling around Shikamaru in earnest. The Chuunin thrashed violently, but for naught. He had only one arm free, and the only weapon at hand had been brushed beyond his reach by a stray sweep of part of Karai's midsection. In frustration Shikamaru started clawing the ground to try to reach the discarded blade.

The feeling of rough scales brushing across the side of his neck focused Shikamaru's thoughts like nothing else could. In a moment of clarity, he became acutely aware of the pressure being applied across his chest. Of his wrist being forced against his back. Of his legs being crushed together. All those points of his body could survive that pressure, at least for a time. His neck would not.

Realizing he had seconds to live, Shikamaru dug his chin against his collarbone and tried to push his head into the dirt. As he did, he reached his free hand behind his back and dug between two folds of Karai's body. Feeling his trapped hand, he quickly clasped the two together to form a seal. "**Shadow Imitation**!" Shikamaru defiantly yelled.

Karai went still.

Relaxing his chin, Shikamaru exhaled a ragged breath. Closing his eyes, he took a moment to steady his breathing. As he did, he again became aware of just how thoroughly Karai had a hold of him. Exhaling again, Shikamaru opened his eyes. He had bound the snake, but she was still wrapped around him, and he had no way to manipulate her movements. He was just as bound as she was.

"Damnit…" He swore as he let his head fall against the ground.

-

Temari quickly backstepped out of Giyam's reach, letting the ninja drive all his momentum into the ground. The kunoichi counterattacked as quickly as she could, slashing her fan upwards in a cross-body slice. Giyam rolled to the side and under the blow. The painted bandit kicked forward, using his substantial size advantage to shove Temari against the rock outcropping.

Giyam smiled. "Gotcha, little g—"

With a grunt of exertion, Temari threw the bigger man to the side.

"Karai," came a voice from above. "Finish him."

Temari looked up just in time to see the snake's tail slither off of Harsi's arm. "Oh, no you don't," Temari yelled. Quickly taking a few steps back to get a better angle, Temari clicked her fan to its two-thirds mark, the optimal configuration for quick point attacks. With a flick of her wrist she shot off a gust with an upswing. Grabbing the fan with her second hand at its zenith, she followed up with a hard downswing. The twin gusts knocked Harsi off her perch, but Temari saw enough to realize she was more stunned than hurt.

Momentarily closing her fan, Temari scrambled up and over the outcropping. As she jumped off the other side, she passed over her brother, who had just flung Giyam off to the side. Sparing a half second to glance at Shikamaru, she saw him slashing at the snake with a kunai. Satisfied no one was in immediate need of help, Temari returned her full attention to Harsi.

The leather-clad bandit had already recovered, and was waiting for Temari in a defensive stance. Harsi shot forward as soon a Temari hit the ground and aimed a chop at the kunoichi. Temari veered to the side to avoid the strike, at the same time passing her fan behind her back and striking a glancing hit on Kari's shoulder. The bandit took the hit in stride and both women continued a few steps past each other.

"For the pride of the Oregi," Harsi growled, holding her hands in a defensive posture at exactly eye level. "I'll drink your blood, Sand-scum."

"I'm surprised to hear Oregi still have pride," Temari shot back. "After all the time they've spent with your face on the ground. Its been how long since you've been house slaves to the Wind Lord? Two generations? Three?" While egging on her opponent, Temari made sure to keep her fan ready to parry. She was not about to underestimate the rebel.

Swaying slightly from side to side, Harsi let out a hiss of anger. "Everything changes. The desert is littered with the bones of the mighty!" Mincing no more words, Harsi stepped to the side and lunged forward.

-

Kankurou scowled as he saw Shikamaru get cut down in midair. "Aw, good going…"

Further commentary was cut short as Giyam was tossed Kankurou's way. Though off balance, the bandit had had the presence of mind to stumble straight into Kankurou and shove the ninja against the rock. Snarling, Kankurou promptly grabbed the man by his jerkin and spun around, pressing Giyam against the wall. Giyam immediately regained his footing and returned the favor. Loosing his temper, Kankurou synched up his grip and tossed his opponent to the side. The bandit landed in a tumble, but quickly rolled out of it and handsprung away.

Cracking his knuckles, Kankurou walked confidently forward. As he did, Giyam ceased retreating and fell into a defensive stance. A moment after he stooped, Ken and the fourth bandit shuffled forward and took positions by his side.

"Do we need to back up Harsi?" Brusquely asked the kid?

"When we're done with this guy," Ken answered, smiling. "I wanna make this brutal."

Still walking forward, Kankurou didn't even check his stride. "Good. So do I," he said. Casually unstrapping Karasu and tossing it to the side, the Sand ninja cheerfully cracked his knuckles again.

Ken clasped his hands together in a short sequence of seals. "**Blowback Technique**," he gruffly stated.

The air around Kankurou exploded, throwing him off-balance. The Sand ninja nimbly danced to the side, trying to keep from being an immobile target. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Giyam and the kid rush forward. Deliberately falling to the side, Kankurou brought down Giyam with a drop-toe-hold. Kankurou rolled away just in time to avoid a blow from the fourth bandit's bo. The teenager leapt over Kankurou, and struck a second time. This blow struck true, catching Kankurou across the chest.

Kankurou let out of grunt, but wrapped his arms around the staff after the impact. "Not good enough, punk," he warned. Still on his back, Kankurou wretched to the side, throwing the kid off balance. The Kankurou then rolled over, pulling the staff over him and tearing it from the kid's grasp in the process. Dropping the bo, Kankurou pushed himself back to his feet.

Unfortunately, Ken was waiting for him. The bandit roughly pulled Kankurou around and punched him in the face. The force of the hit knocked Kankurou back a step, giving Ken the time to deliver an even stronger haymaker. The second punch sent the Sand ninja tumbling backwards.

Pressing his advantage, Ken pulled out a kunai and charged. Belaying his lack of advanced training, he approached too close to his opponent before leaping, giving Kankurou the opportunity to counterstrike. From his position on the ground, Kankurou quickly rolled forward. Coming out of the roll on his hands and knees, he spun to the side threw out his right leg in a low roundhouse. The kick hit Ken in the gut, stopping him in his tracks and doubling him over.

Still on his hands and knees, Kankurou made an awkward lunge at his opponent. With his shoulder driving into Ken's neck, he managed to grab the bandit's head. Without his vertical base, Kankurou promptly fell to the ground, yanking Ken down with him. The bandit's body jackknifed and there was an audible snap as Kankurou twisted it on his way down. Ken's body promptly went limp and bounced to the side. Leaving the fallen bandit where he was, Kankurou immediately pushed himself back to his feet.

Out of the corner of his eyes, Kankurou saw Giyam charging with a kunai in his outstretched hand. Quickly dancing back, Kankurou grabbed Giyam's wrist and flung the bandit past him. Kankruou watched amusedly as Giyam tried to check his momentum.

Predictably, the fourth bandit was charging forward as well. Kankurou turned to face him just as he attacked, blocking a swing from the bo with the palm of his hand. "You really suck, kid," he observed.

Enraged, the kid pulled back and tightened his grip on the staff. "The name is Gannon!" The kid yelled, with an odd accent. "_Remember it_!" Gannon shot forward again, aiming a swipe at Kankurou's head.

Kankurou ducked under the blow and lashed out with an open palm as soon as it had past. Gannon took a fatal strike to the neck and tumbled backwards.

Smiling grimly, Kankurou turned to face the last man standing against him.

Having already stopped short, Giyam stared at Kankurou with wide eyes. "You bastard…" He spat out.

The smile left Kankurou's face. "Leave my heritage out of this."

His expression hardening, Giyam began forming seals.

Kankurou casually pulled his right hand to the side, with his fingers splayed out behind it.

At Kankurou's bidding, Karasu sprang from the forest and attacked Giyam from behind. A blade pierced the bandit's lungs before he even realized what had happened. With his expression slowly fading, the painted bandit slipped to the ground.

"Puh," Kankurou disdainfully spat out. "You guys _all_ suck."

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	15. Here Be Dragons

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While I typically don't do Author's Notes, this came up in one review and is likely to come up again, so… As far as this story goes, Shikamaru does **not** know the Shadow Neck Bind. It was fairly plainly stated during the Chuunin Exam that the Shadow Imitation was Shikamaru's only move. Presumably, Shikmamaru was taught the Shadow Neck Bind **after** his promotion, by his father. However, since Shikamaru was promoted prematurely in this story, and had no contact with his parents afterwards, that never had a chance to happen here. So while other characters may be getting some new tricks, or outright power-ups, Shikamaru is still stuck with his single special move.

Now back to the story…

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Here be Dragons

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With a grunt of exasperation, Shikamaru once again ceased his struggling. Having not quite accepted his complete helplessness, he had been trying to at least roll onto his side. However, all he had managed to do was pike his body some, and then to lock himself into that position. Now instead of having his head resting against the ground, his face was actively pressed into the dirt.

In retrospect, Shikamaru decided his attempts were ill conceived from the start. Even if he did roll over, he wouldn't have been able to do any more than he could before. Besides that, he might have attracted unwanted attention. The only advantage to being on his side would have been to give him a better view of what was happening around him. But as he thought about it, Shikamaru decided he really could see just fine from where he was. In two directions, at least. All he had to do was roll his head slightly to the side, and close whichever eye was going to be driven further into the dirt.

As he was once again lying still, Shikamaru took stock of how he was holding up. To his dismay, he realized he was using chakra much faster than he should have been. After a moment of thinking it over, he figured Karai was responsible. The snake, after all, was the familiar of a ninja, and was no doubt trained to drain chakra out of victim as well as squeeze the life out of them. Shikamaru had stopped the active squeezing, but he had no way to halt the draining.

Shikamaru sighed loudly. "_Maaaaaaan_…"

-

Temari let out a growl of annoyance as Harsi danced away from yet another lunge. Keeping just out of Temari's range, the leather clad bandit slowly swayed from side to side. She had been doing that since the start of the fight, continuously staring at Temari with her hands held right in her line of vision. Harsi never got far enough away for Temari to use her range gusts effectively, and was always just out of reach of hand-to-hand attacks. And strangely, she almost never made a strike of her own. The bandit's odd behavior was starting to get on Temari's nerves. And it was giving her a headache.

Exasperated, Temari stared back into Harsi's gaze. As she did, she felt the urge to toss aside her fan. Doing so, she lunged forward again. Harsi nimbly danced to the side, again catching Temari's gaze as soon as the Sand ninja recovered her footing. Feeling disoriented, Temari raised her hand to point at her opponent. She tried to taunt the bandit, but she lost the words as soon as she tried to say them.

Harsi abruptly formed a series of seals.

Temari stood up straight and lowered her hand.

Exhaling, Harsi stood up straight as well. "You're a tough one," she said, pulling a fancy dagger from a holster at her waist. "Usually it doesn't even take a minute before I get in control. But you…" Harsi clucked her tongue. "You just wouldn't stop fighting it. But I guess that just makes this all the sweeter." Stepping forward, Harsi put her blade to Temari's neck.

But she abruptly stopped short. Looking past Temari, the bandit took an apprehensive step back.

"Then again, I can always kill you later." Grabbing Temari by the face, Harsi stared intently into her eyes. "I need you to do something for me first…"

-

With a flick of his wrist, Kankurou pulled Karasu towards him. The puppet sprang across the land, crouching in a haphazard heap beside Kankurou. Smirking, Kankurou glanced to see how the rest of the battle was going.

The first thing that grabbed his attention was the Oregi's snake, lying on the ground and coiled tightly around something human sized. Kankurou's eyes widened as he realized what the snake was doing. "Oh crap," he muttered as he sprinted forward, sending Karasu out ahead of him. "You really _did_ screw this up…"

Kankurou's rush to his teammate was interrupted by a concentrated gust of air. As familiar as he was with his sister's attacks, the boy was able to nimbly roll under the worst of the attack. Coming back up into a crouch, Kankurou quickly glanced around to see what Temari had been aiming at. But before he found anything he was knocked backwards by a second gust.

"_Temari_!" Kankurou yelled out as he stopped himself. "What do you think you're doing?" Looking up, he saw Temari running forward with her fan raised and ready to strike. His eyes wide with disbelief, Kankurou just barely had time to roll to the side.

Growling, Temari pulled her closed fan out of the ground and took another swing at Kankurou.

The sound of metal clanging against wood filled the air as Karasu intercepted the blow. With one hand outstretched to manipulate his puppet, Kankurou hastily backpedaled away from his sister. Then he abruptly yelled as something burned across his side. Acting on reflex he recoiled away from the sensation, swinging his arm back to ward off whatever had attacked him.

Having ducked under Kankurou's wild swing, Harsi pulled away from the wounded boy. In her hand was a knife with a smattering of blood on it. Bringing the blade up to her mouth, the rebel smiled wickedly.

As Kankurou fell back, Karasu spasmed, allowing Temari to easily knock it away.

Stumbling backwards, Kankurou fell into a three-point stance and glared at his attackers. Supporting himself with his right arm, he kept his left arm clutched across his chest. Blood trickled through his hand. The cut wasn't deep, but it was bleeding freely, and it hurt. Blocking out the pain, Kankurou glanced up at his sister. She was staring back at him, but there was no recognition in her face. Glancing back at Harsi, his eyes narrowed. "I'm _really_ starting to hate you Oregis."

Amused, Harsi tilted her head to the side. "Oh? And you didn't before?"

"Not really," Kankurou muttered. "But now its personal."

"Tut tut," Harsi chided. "Kill him."

With a yell, Temari leapt forward.

Grunting, Kankurou jumped up a tree to avoid his sister.

Without a sound, Karasu sprang at Harsi from behind. The bandit fell to the side, only just avoiding the attack. As she rolled away, Harsi saw the puppet whirl to the side and lunge into a tree.

"Damnit," yelled Kankurou as he managed to glance down at Harsi between avoiding attacks by Temari.

Stepping back confidently, Harsi chuckled. "Pathetic." Before Kankurou could use his puppet again, Harsi leapt up towards the Sand ninja.

Crouched on a fir branch, Kankurou quickly whirled aside to avoid Harsi's initial knife thrust. As the boy spun to the other side of the trunk, Hari landed on a branch just beyond where Kankruou had just been. Looking back, she saw Kankurou grab at a dead branch, which gave way as soon as he put his weight on it. Kankurou fell away, but not before flinging the offending stick at the bandit. Caught off guard while laughing at Kankurou's misstep, Harsi was struck across the face by the projectile.

After breaking several sizable branches of his way down, Kankurou landed in a crouch. Ignoring the pain in his side, he sprung forward. Having caught up with him during his scuffle with Harsi, Temari dropped from the trees a second later and sprinted after him. Abruptly digging his foot into the ground, Kankurou reared about and aimed a roundhouse at his sister. The kick struck the kunoichi's fan, knocking it from her grasp and unbalancing her.

Shuffling back a few steps, Temari reset herself then flung herself forward, aiming a lariat and a cross-body-knee at her opponent. Kankurou saw the lariat and raised his arms to block it, but was caught unprepared by the knee to his chest. Yelping, the boy staggered backwards doubled over in pain.

Temari took a second to regain her footing again before leaping after her brother. Seeing the attack coming, it was all Kankurou could do to fall backwards and toss Temari over him as he did. Though he hit the ground on his uninjured side, Kankurou was still jarred by the fall. Temari, however, took the throw in stride, landing in a tumble and almost instantly rolling out of it. Wincing against the pain, Kankurou pushed himself to his knees. Turning around as she stood up, Temari focused her gaze on Kankurou and leapt forward. Then her head abruptly cocked to the side. The kunoichi went stiff, lost her footing and tumbled to the ground.

Breathing hard, Kankurou stayed where he was for a moment. Still on the ground, Temari remained unnaturally still. Looking past his sister, Kankurou saw Shikamaru, still wrapped up by the snake, but with a line of shadow connecting him and Temari. "Thanks, punk," said Kankurou, managing a weak laugh. "I owe you one."

With his face still pressed against the dirt, Shikamaru glanced at Kankurou out of the corner of his eye. "Not yet," he all but whispered. "Can't… Hold her long. Getting weak…"

His expression hardening, Kankurou nodded. "Right…" Standing up straight, Kankurou activated all his chakra strings. At his command, Karasu sprang back to life and hobbled toward the Sand ninja. "All right, Oregi," Kankurou yelled as he stepped back into the trees. "It's just you and me, now!"

Harsi landed in the midst of a grove a short distance from Kankurou, with fresh red scratches on her face. She immediately stood up in defensive posture, with her hands held deliberately in front of here eyes.

"I thought that bit of genjutsu was illegal," Kankurou wryly commented.

"Being a free Oregi is illegal, in case you've forgotten," spat back Harsi. "And your village is to blame for that."

Kankurou scowled. "I really don't feel like discussing the cycle of violence between you and the Sand. I just feel like _finishing_ it!" Kankurou dramatically brought his arms back, commanding Karasu to lunge at Harsi from the side.

Harsi immediately whirled back to avoid the puppet, bobbing from side to side as she did. As she did the puppet pulled back and began circling around her. Harsi began to turn to keep her eyes fixed on Karasu before remembering it was just a puppet. Abruptly turning back to Kankurou, she almost didn't see the blade from Karasu until it was too late. Diving to the ground at the last moment, she felt a trap-sprung kunai shoot through her hair. Frantically rolling back to her feet, she came up with one arm pointed to Karasu and one towards Kankurou, glancing wildly between the two of them.

With a mirthless grin on his face, Kankurou gestured for Harsi to come forward. "C'mon," he urged. "Lets see you try that little trick on me."

As her gaze darted between Kankurou and the puppet, Harsi's expression hardened. With a yell, she threw caution to the wind and charged Kankurou. The Sand ninja smiled confidently and initiated Karasu's pursuit. The puppet immediately sprang forward, only to be knocked aside by a blind roundhouse kick from Harsi. Not expecting her to have her timing down that well, Kankurou fell back a step. As she landed, Harsi smiled wickedly and leapt forward again.

Taking full advantage of the forest, Kankurou dodged behind a fir trunk as Harsi attacked. A roundhouse that was meant for him thudded against the tree, visibly cracking it. Unperturbed, Harsi sidestepped the tree and kicked again. Kankurou continued his dodging, ducking behind every obstacle he could.

Karasu abruptly rejoined the fight, sending a spray of shuriken just over Kankurou's head. Though in midair when the attack came, Harsi managed to twist her way through the flack, landing just in front of a dumbstruck Kankurou. With another yell, she kicked the side of the boy's knee. The bandit followed up with a quick chop to his shoulder and another roundhouse.

As he fell, Kankurou had the presence of mind to send Karasu after Harsi to keep her away from him. However, Harsi saw the puppet coming and shuffled forward to meet him. The bandit struck first, splitting open Karasu with a viscous frontkick. With its internal workings jarred and part of its torso casing splintering off, Karasu lurched backward. Harsi stepped forward again, roundhousing the puppet into a tree.

Snarling, Harsi turned her attention back to Kankurou. The boy was still lying on his side, looking in disbelief at the shattered Karasu. Catching Harsi's gaze, his expression abruptly hardened. Harsi charged, intent on pressing her advantage. Kankurou angrily rolled back and handsprung to his feet. As he did, he pulled a handful of kunai from his side holster. Harsi leapt at Kankurou, and Kankurou dove to the side and let loose his kunai.

Harsi dodged the blades with ease, until all four of them abruptly changed course. The bandit screamed as one of the bladed sliced across her leg. Another blade nicked her side. Landing in a heap, Harsi saw one of the kunai coming at her face. Rolling to the side and throwing up her hands, she managed to escape with only a gash along her entire forearm.

Kankurou pulled his blades back with a gesture from his right hand. With an overdramatic gesture from his left hand, he pulled Karasu to where he was. Panting hard, Kankurou spat some dirt out of his mouth. "Come on, Oregi," he challenged. "Come on and get some!" Kankurou clenched his left fist, extending apair of blades out of thepuppet's relatively undamaged arms.

Clutching her arm, Harsi looked up in alarm.

"_Come on_!" Kankurou repeated, waving his right arm over his head. In response, his four airborne kunai swung at Harsi, cutting through the branches that were in the way. Harsi ducked away from the first attack, only to see Karasu spring at her again. Pulling the same trick Kankurou had done earlier, Harsi darted behind the nearest tree. Karasu's blade dug into the trunk, giving Harsi the chance to deliver another front kick before the puppet could dislodge itself. But Harsi paid for the attack with a wound to her shoulder as the kunai zipped past the tree.

Hurt badly, Harsi fell away in a controlled tumble. Karasu, not any more damaged than before, followed immediately, giving her no respite. Acting on reflex alone, Harsi began darting from tree to tree as the puppet pressed the attack. With Karasu and the kunai working in tandem, Harsi was kept on the defensive. Despite her attempts at maneuvering, she was unable to get close enough to Kankurou to even think about attacking him directly. All she managed to do was circle around him in a wide arc.

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	16. The Way Out

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The Way Out

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Lying prone on the ground, Shikamaru was wracked by a fit of coughing. As his chakra level had gotten lower, his breathing had become more ragged. With his face in the dirt, he had started inhaling more dust than was healthy, and his body was not handling it well. The coughing was abruptly replaced by a pained grunt as Shikamaru inadvertently managed to tighten Karai's grip.

Gritting his teeth, Shikamaru forced himself to calm down and breath easier. After a few seconds the additional pressure lessened, but did not reverse itself entirely. The Leaf ninja let out a hiss of annoyance. However, his breathing soon slowed, and applying chakra to his Shadow Imitation once again became bearable.

A moment later, Shikamaru realized why. "Shit," he whispered, unable to exert himself any further.

-

Fighting off an overwhelming a sense of vertigo, Temari slowly pushed herself up to her knees. She still had her headache, and her vision was blurry. As she struggled to contain her thoughts, Temari recognized the headache as an unnaturally induced one. But her thoughts kept slipping away, and try as she might, she could not recall what was behind her condition.

Intent entirely on her own thoughts, Temari stood up fully and unevenly walked forward.

-

Harsi tumbled back, in the midst of a complete rout. She hit the ground rolling, landing only just before Karasu. Harsi lashed out desperately at the puppet, not caring that the blow jarred her already damaged hand. It knocked the puppet off its center of gravity for a moment, and that was all that mattered. Turning as quickly as she should, Harsi sprinted through the trees. However, she was forced to skid to a stop a moment later as four kunai dropped out of the trees ahead of her.

The bandit made a break for to her right, leaping through an especially dense grove in the hopes that her pursuers would loose time going through it. Ignoring the scrapes she picked up as she tore her way through the branches, Harsi rushed forward as fast as she could. A moment after clearing the underbrush, Harsi glanced back. Nothing had followed her through.

Immediately sensing something wrong, Harsi cut to the right. As she did, a swarm of eight kunai burst through the trees off to the side. The kunai were aimed at where she had been running, but they quickly adjusted. Harsi took a cut to her already injured leg and tumbled to the ground. Knowing she didn't have time to waste, the bandit continued scrambling forward on all fours. Looking frantically for something to use to her advantage, Harsi spotted something to her right.

"Stay still!" She yelled. Changing course once again, Harsi ploughed headlong through a bush.

Shuffling through the forest to keep his Harsi in sight, Kankurou grunted. "Yeah, flailing around like that _really_ mesmerized me," he sarcastically called back. "I'm ready to do whatever you tell me to." Sidestepping past a series of trees, Kankurou abruptly stopped short.

Standing haggardly against an unresponsive Temari, Harsi glared back at Kankurou. "Maybe I didn't," she said between gasps. "But you'll do what I say just the same!" Harsi pulled back Temari's head for emphasis and pressed the flat of a kunai against her neck.

Staring balefully at the bandit, Kankurou took a half step forward.

Putting her hand on Temari's shoulder, Harsi forced the kunoichi to her knees and leaned haphazardly against her. "Drop the kunai," the bandit ordered, letting her own blade press against the underside of Temari's jaw. "All of them. And the puppet too."

Letting his head dip down, Kankurou continued to glare at Harsi. "No," he retorted. Deliberately, he pulled his eight floating kunai into formation at his sides.

Harsi inhaled audibly. "Drop them and back off, or the Sand bitch dies."

Kankurou continued slowly walking forward. "You're not going to kill her."

"Yes I am," Harsi shot back, tightening her grip on the kunai.

"You're not going to kill her," Kankurou continued as if Harsi hadn't spoken. "Because she's the only thing between you," the Sand ninja momentarily trailed off. "And me feeding you your own heart."

Harsi kept her gaze locked on the advancing Sand ninja.

"Kill the hostage, and you'll have nothing left. No weapons, and no time to run. I'll cripple you the moment she drops." Kankurou lowered his voice for emphasis. "And then I'll drag it out. For as long as I can."

Harsi nervously eased away from Temari, though still keeping a firm grip on her. "What does it matter? You were going to kill me anyway."

"Only because you attacked first," replied Kankurou. "We're on a mission out here, and it's got nothing to do with runaway slave girls who want to play bandit. You could have walked away at any time." A humorless smirk came across Kankurou's face. "And you still can. Drop the weapon and end your little technique, and I'll let you run."

"So you can knife me in the back?" Harsi spat back. "I know how the Sand works…"

"It's the only offer you'll get," Kankurou informed her. "And you don't have any other options."

Harsi and Kankurou locked gazes for a moment.

Kankurou began walking forward again. "Last chance."

Breathing hard, Harsi anxiously pulled the kunai away from Temari's neck. Holding it for a second, she tossed it to the ground.

Kankurou stopped advancing.

With her other hand still on Temari's shoulder, Harsi glared at Kankurou, waiting to see if he would do anything.

"Bye," he said, tilting his head slightly.

Abruptly pushing off of Temari, the leather clad bandit sprinted away as fast as she could.

Kankurou grunted and began shuffling over to Shikamaru.

As she hit the ground, Temari abruptly came back to her senses. Immediately glancing around, she caught sight of the retreating Harsi. Reflexively grabbing the kunai on the ground beside her, the kunoichi let out a yell and hurled the blade at her adversary. Harsi fell over with strangled gasp as the blade buried itself in her back.

"Gah," yelled Kankurou, startled by Temari's sudden activity. "Relax," he admonished as he continued to where Shikamaru lay.

In control but not fully oriented, Temari continued to glare at the fallen Harsi. Pulling her gaze away, she glanced at her brother. Seeing what was beside him, her eyes suddenly widened. "_Shikamaru_!" She yelled out.

Kneeling beside his teammate, Kankurou held up his hand. "Hold it. He's got the snake in his shadow thing." The boy leaned down to catch Shikamaru's gaze. "Hey punk, how do we do this? Does what we do to the snake happen to you as well?"

"Just kill it," Shikamaru whispered hoarsely.

"Yeah, but—"

"Hold its head where it is," the Chuunin insisted. "And stab it. The blade won't hurt me."

Glancing up at his sister, who had moved up next to him and had a concerned expression on her face, Kankurou shrugged. "All right," he said, reeling in a kunai he still had at his command. Stepping over Shikamaru, Kankurou found the snake's head lying against a coil around the boy's back. Karai hissed, but did not move. Firmly grabbing his target, Kankruou shrugged. "Here goes…" With a quick strike, the boy drove the blade straight into the snake's brain.

Shikamaru grunted sharply and slouched against the ground.

"Shikamaru," Temari cried as she knelt beside the boy.

Kankurou held up his hands defensively. "Hey! He said it wouldn't hurt."

"It didn't," Shikamaru muttered into the dirt. "Much. Just jarred my neck."

Pulling the kunai out of the snake's head, Kankurou smirked. "Heh. Baby. Take it like a man."

Rolling Shikamaru over, Temari carefully brushed the dirt from his face. "You're really okay, then."

Exhausted, Shikamaru closed his eyes. "Yeah. Just get me out of this…"

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	17. The Piper's Price

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The Piper's Price

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The western boarder of Steppe Country, dusk…

"Jackpot."

Kneeling in the grass, Ino looked triumphantly up at her teammates. They had found another set of stampede tracks, this time headed south. And more importantly, it was only five days old.

"That's one way to put it," said Choji, not nearly as enthusiastically.

Gaara nodded. "So it seems. Now how do we plan to use this?" Glancing at Ino, Gaara paused. "Your orders yesterday were given under the assumption that we would run into a scouting party. If this trail leads, as we suspect it does, to a Harandou line, then we would be wise to avoid being noticed by them. Under an onslaught of hundreds, even I may fall."

"And with that many insects around, there's bound to be lookouts," added Choji.

"With that many insects," Gaara continued, "even the regular workers would be threat to our secrecy."

Ino leaned back on her haunches and exhaled. "Good point," she observed. "But we can't walk away from this. We've got to make contact with the insects sooner or later if we want to beat them."

"But not the whole swarm," Choji insisted.

"It may be wise," suggested Gaara, "to avoid where the insects are swarming. To continue patrolling the prairie as we have been. We know that scouting parties are sent out to find the prey and drive it to the feeding ground. Those parties would be less formidable."

"But less useful," contradicted Ino. "I know I mentioned interrogating one of the insects, but the more I think about that, the more I doubt that it would work. Those drones looked as insect as they did human. I don't think they'd give up information even if we killed them."

"Because they are just drones?" Asked Choji. "You think they may be… Mindless copies of each other?"

"And therefore, willfully expendable."

Ino nodded. "It's just a hunch, but… Call it women's intuition."

Choji scowled. "So what _do_ we do?"

Ino glanced at her team. "We're going to follow this trail," she said, pointing to the ground, "to wherever it leads us. We _need_ a firsthand account of what these insects are doing. So far we've only had one actual encounter with them. Everything else we know or think we know is guesswork based on what we've seen them leave behind." Ino sighed. "That's just not good enough. If we intend to take the fight to the enemy, we need to actually see the enemy. Particularly, we need to see how many insects Regekion has, and what types she will bring to bear."

"We were told there were warriors," Gaara reminded.

"But we need to know what that means," said Choji. "And how many of them there are."

Gaara grunted.

"My thinking exactly," confirmed Ino.

"Even scouting the feeding ground will be extremely risky," Gaara repeated.

Ino held up her hand. "Oh, I'm well aware of that, Gaara. But it has to be done, and we have to do it while we have the chance."

Choji bit his lip, but nodded.

"We'll be going in slow," instructed Ino. "Regekion was using that last feeding ground for weeks, I'm betting she'll be at this one for just as long. So there's no need for us to take extra risks to get there in a hurry. We're not going to follow the trail at forced march pace. We'll take this at a slow scouting pace. Be careful where you leap, and keep a low profile at all costs. Even before we close on the on the main swarm, we'll be dealing with scouting parties coming and going overhead."

Gaara grunted in acknowledgement.

Choji grimly nodded.

"And we'll be moving at night."

Gaara glanced to the side.

Choji groaned.

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Dyokin's Hill, early evening…

"Has he woken up, yet?"

Glancing up from his kunai, Kankurou raised his eyebrows. "Does he look like he's woken up?"

Kankurou, Temari, and Shikamaru were camped at the edge of a meadow near where they had been ambushed. Following the fight, the bodies of the bandits had been quickly searched, and then dumped in a shallow creek downhill and downwind. Temari and Kankurou then moved their packs to a more suitable location and set up camp. Kankurou then set up several campfires to roast and smoke the snake he had killed, while Temari had left to scout the area.

Now back at the camp, Temari glanced to the side, where Shikamaru was slouched over his travel pack. The Chuunin had passed out halfway through being removed from Karai, and had not been roused since.

"Apparently the snake did more than just squeeze him," Kankurou muttered, glancing at the boy as well. "He sort of said as much. He'll be out for the night." The boy paused for a moment, then continued cleaning his blades. "It's probably for the best. I didn't feel anything broken, but he got some bruises, and more than a couple abrasions. His wrist is going to be raw for a few days."

Temari let out her breath. "But he'll live," she said.

"Oh yeah…"

"And how are you holding up, little brother?"

Kankurou looked up sharply. "Okay, you can drop the big sister routine, alright. I'm a ninja, I can handle a few cuts. I've already taped myself up."

Temari raised an eyebrow. "Did you at least clean the wound first?"

Kankurou scowled. "Knock it off."

"Still the stubborn one," mumbled Temari as she sat down next to her brother.

"Yeah, like you're not," the boy shot back, returning his attention to his cleaning. After a brief pause he continued in a different tone. "So did you find anything?"

Leaning back, Temari nodded. "I found their base. Almost on the other side of the hill, but it wasn't hard if you knew what to look for. It wasn't much, though, just a cabin leading into an over-furnished cave. There was a fenced off gully right next to it with about twenty cattle in it. And they set up a few traps surrounding the place, but nothing more advanced than what we first saw."

"Pft." Kankurou shook his head. "Some lair. Sounds like they were living in a stable."

"That's not too far off," agreed Temari. "But they had good taste in décor."

Kankurou's face brightened. "Oh. So they were doing good business out here. What did you loot?"

Temari scowled at her brother.

"C'mon," the boy insisted, holding out his hand. "I killed three of them and worked over the fourth. Whatever we take, I deserve _most_ of it."

Letting out a growl of annoyance, Temari pulled her travel satchel over her shoulder and dumped the contents on the ground. "Not as much as I would have liked," the kunoichi admitted. "They didn't have much money on them. They were bandits, after all. They probably drank most of what they took in. A lot of the rest went into furnishings. Chairs, rugs, chests… Big things that let them think they were living in a palace rather than a cave."

"Things too big to carry with us," finished Kankurou. "Lousy dustheads…" Rummaging through what Temari had brought, the boy continued thoughtfully. "Still, not too bad…"

"The girl liked her jewelry," Temari commented. "And the kid as well. This'll probably come out to—"

"Ooh," Kankurou abruptly cut in, grabbing a stubby corked vial. "This what I think it is?"

Temari smiled. "Yup. You mentioned you sere going to smoke the snake, so I made a quick stop in their kitchen."

Kankurou excitedly got to his feet, wincing slightly in the process. "Good," he said, not letting the pain show. "This meat will keep better salted. And I didn't exactly pack my bag with cooking in mind…"

"I brought some preserving paper as well," said Temari with a smile. "Their smokehouse was well equipped, at least." The kunoichi paused for a moment. "So, I guess that should pretty much cover your share…"

"Not a chance," the boy replied as he pulled a slab of meat away from a cooking fire. Though keeping up the conversation, Kankurou kept his eyes fixed on what he was doing. "Besides, you shouldn't be so greedy. It's pretty slim for a bandit's stash, but even split two ways it's more than double the pay for a C mission. Certainly nothing to complain about."

"Split _three_ ways," Temari corrected. "But it's still a good haul."

"C'mon, sis, that punk doesn't have to know about it."

Temari crossed her arms.

Kankurou didn't look back, but he knew his sister well enough to guess the way she was looking at him. "Shikamaru is from Konoha, remember? He's one of those oh-so-moral Leaf ninjas. They've probably got some code against looting the bodies. It'd be better for his conscience if he didn't know about this."

"And when he wonders how the meat got salted?" Temari prompted.

"Pft. Like he'd notice." Kankurou replaced the slab of meat he had been salting and moved on to the next one. "You left the lair intact, right?"

"Yes," Temari replied, idly divvying up the trinkets she had brought back. "But I wouldn't get your heart set on spending the night there."

Kankurou scoffed. "Trust me, I'm not. Unless it starts hailing again…" Kankurou anxiously glanced at the sky, and shook his head. "Nah, I'm just thinking we could still loot the place after the mission. Y'know, haul the furniture off to Kyokoa or somewhere and sell it. After the mission's over, when we've got the time."

"Always thinking with your wallet," Temari said with a chuckle.

"There may have even been a bounty on those bandits. Or we could have negotiated one. _They_ seemed pretty sure there was…" Kankurou sighed. "Too bad we don't have the time to find out."

Temari nodded to herself. "Yeah. We've got to get back on Regekion's trail. We'll have lost five days by the time this is over."

"And Shikamaru isn't going to let us forget it," Kankurou added. "He didn't want to come out this way at all, remember. He told us it would just be a waste of time. And the punk was right. He'd better not start gloating on us…"

"That would probably take too much effort," Temari lightheartedly replied. "Effort he'd rather put into marching." The kunoichi's expression soured. "He's going to run us pretty hard, you realize? Whether he's hurt bad or not, he's going to want to rush back to the western boarder as fast as we can go."

"Of course I realize that," Kankurou muttered. "Why do you think I'm smoking the snake? Having a bit of dried meat on hand will make meals a lot less of a hassle."

"And a lot quicker. Wonderful," observed Temari, without enthusiasm.

Kankurou chuckled as he continued his work. "Eh, he won't press us that hard. We can only go as fast as he can, after all. And seeing how the snake worked him over… He'll have to take it slow for a day or so."

"Mn," acknowledged Temari. "I hope your right. You'll have to find time somewhere to fix up Karasu." The kunoichi paused, looking across the camp to where the puppet was lying. "That's the worst I've ever seen Karasu after a fight. Is he even fixable out here?"

"Fixable?" Asked Kankurou, momentarily glancing at his sister. "No. But usable? Yes. This is the second beating he's taken, and it's more than I can repair in the field, even if I did get another free afternoon to do it in. But I can patch him, and I can still use him. Karasu just won't have as many tricks as he usually does. I can definitely have the casing fixed up by the time we get back to where the action is." Kankurou paused a moment. "It was all the Oregi, you realize. She's the one that tore up Karasu, she's the one that took out Shikamaru, and she's the one who hypnotized you."

"Not bad for a runaway slave," Temari commented.

"Makes you wonder what a girl like her was doing with the rest of those wannabes."

Temari shrugged. "Oh probably just enjoying herself," the kunoichi speculated. "She met a bunch of guys who thought they were the best there was, and decided to tag along with them. Whenever something thing big happened, she'd quietly do her part and take her share of the spoils. Plus, she'd get to watch as the guys made fools of themselves fawning over her and acting like they were better than they actually were."

"Yeah," scoffed Kankurou. "And I'll bet those fools never even realized what she really thought about them."

Smiling to herself, Temari quietly crossed her arms and watched Kankurou.

The silence held for a moment.

"Hey!"

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

The same, predawn…

Groaning slightly, Shikamaru pushed himself off of his travel pack. Glancing about, he quickly took in his surroundings. "Temari?" He asked, not making out many details from the dying light of the multiple campfires. "Kankurou?"

"Oh," a voice replied, as a nearby shadow seemed to perk up. "What are you doing awake?"

"What was I doing asleep?" Shikamaru shot back. The Leaf ninja tried to stand up, but let out a sharp gasp as his body let him know how sore it was. "Nm…" Forcing himself to move nonetheless, Shikamaru lurched his way closer to the fire. "It looks like it's almost light," he observed, plopping back down. "Why didn't you wake me?"

Leaning back and fidgeting with some of his tools, Kankruou arched an eyebrow. "Is that a complaint?"

"Yeah," Shikamaru continued, still wincing. "My team, my responsibility. I shouldn't be skipping my part on the watch rotation."

"Kid," Kankurou said with a condescending chuckle. "We've been through this. Temari and I are better than you. And we are perfectly capable of handling a half-night watch. Even after a fight." Kankruou abruptly held up a shaped chisel for emphasis. "Which, I want you to know, we both survived in much better condition than you did."

Meeting Kankurou's gaze, Shikamaru nodded imperceptibly. "So Temari's okay?"

Kankurou laughed at the boy's obvious concern. "Oh, yeah. She's fine. Just a little angry she let herself get hypnotized."

Shikamaru let out a quiet grunt of acknowledgement.

"And while we're on the topic," Kankurou continued with a mocking note to his voice. "Nice going yourself, letting that snake wrap you up like that. What were you thinking? That it just wanted a hug?"

"They never covered that scenario in the hand to hand training sessions back at the academy," Shikamaru humorlessly responded.

"And you couldn't figure out how to handle it on your own? Some genius you are." Smiling despite Shikamaru's lack of amusement, Kankurou continued in a slightly more serious tone. "Though that was a clever stunt you pulled at the end, there."

"Desperate, you mean," Shikamaru corrected.

"So I guess it didn't work out quite as well as you planned."

Shikamaru sighed. "Actually, it worked out exactly as I planned. I just hadn't planned for anything past my immediate survival. I was caught completely off guard, and that was all I could come up with," the boy finished. "Some genius I am," he agreed.

Not used to people taking his criticisms seriously, Kankurou cocked his head to his side. "Yeah, well…" The Sand ninja dragged out the words, trying to figure out what to say next. "Your little diversion sucked as well. How did you come up with that gem?"

Shikamaru glanced up and raised his eyebrow. "You mean you can't guess?"

"Ino shoved the fat-ass out of the way during a mission?"

"Actually she shoved _me_ into Choji and then got the kid while he was laughing at us."

Kankurou stared at the Chuunin. "I can't believe you would actually admit to that," he finally said.

Shikamaru shrugged. "The truth is easier than making up a lie. And I'm not trying to impress anyone here."

"Anyone awake," Kankurou muttered as Shikamaru turned his gaze into the smoldering fire. After a moment of silence, he turned to his side and rummaged through his newly cleaned blades. "By the way," he prompted. "You missing a kunai? I came out with one extra."

"Probably," Shikamaru muttered. "I was trying to cut the snake with one, but I lost track of it somewhere along the way."

"Yeah, this'd be yours, then," concluded Kankurou as he tossed the blade to Shikamaru.

The Chuunin absently caught the kunai, but continued to hold it in his hand rather than immediately holster it. Pulling his gaze away from the campfires, he glanced back at Kankurou. "We're cooking the snake?"

"No point in letting it go to waste."

"And you're not concerned that the fires will draw more attention to us?"

Kankurou dismissively shook his head. "We killed all the bandits. They don't have more friends hiding out waiting to avenge them." The Sand ninja paused for a moment. "Any of that bother you, mister not-a-heartless ninja?"

"The only part that bothers me," muttered Shikamaru, looking up at the stars, "is that it _doesn't_ bother me."

"Meh?" Asked Kankurou, not quite getting it. Then his face lit up in amusement. "You've got to be kidding me. Mamma's Boy actually _misses_ his conscience!"

"Life was simpler when I had it."

Kankurou again stared at Shikamaru. "You're not even going to argue it?"

"I am my parents' son," Shikamaru admitted. "Why argue it?"

"Because it's an insult," said Kankurou, rolling his eyes. "Whether it's true or not, you only call someone a 'momma's boy' as an insult."

Shikamaru glanced at Kankurou out of the corner of his eyes. "It may be an insult, but it is also," he said slowly, "a subject I'd rather not discuss."

"Why? You've got issues with your mom?"

Shikamaru ignored the comment and continued staring up at the sky.

After another moment, it dawned on Kankurou. "_Oooh_," he said with exaggerated emphasis. "Right, you've got some sort of scoop on Gaara, and think talking about parents will upset me because of what happened to his mom. Gotcha." The Sand ninja paused for second. "Trust me, that won't get to me."

Though not looking at Kankurou, Shikamaru raised his eyebrows nonetheless. "That only _confirms_ that it is not a topic I should be bringing up."

"Confirms?" Prompted Kankurou. "You have the scoop on me as well?"

Shikamaru sighed. "The story of my town is a generational one. Everyone is just a variation of their parents. Although I've never seen your father up close, you and your siblings all share a few common traits." The Chuunin paused for moment. "But hair color isn't one of them. And red, brown, and strawberry blond, is a strange mix to come by."

Chuckling to himself, Kankurou crossed his arms. "Not bad," he congratulated. "And yeah, we all take after our parents. Gaara took after Dad, while Temari and I took after our moms."

"Your mother should lay off the make-up," Shikamaru suggested with a hint of humor.

"The sad thing is, I could see my mom doing this," said Kankurou, laughing. "She's a little messed up."

"Still alive, then?"

"As far as I know," the Sand ninja answered. "Though maybe not. We don't keep in touch, and she lives the kind of life that will burn you out. She's doped herself into a stupor more than once, and I doubt she's learned her lesson."

Shikamaru looked at Kankurou. "I can't believe _you_ would admit to something like that," he bluntly stated. "Wouldn't that, of all things, be something worth lying about? Or at least not mentioning?"

Kankurou chuckled. "Of course not. When I tell people that, they always make some smart-ass remark, and that gives me the perfect excuse to beat some respect into them." Kankurou pointed to Shikamaru. "You're just not cooperating."

Shikamaru shook his head and looked back up at the sky.

With exaggerated effort, Kankurou pushed himself to his feet. "Besides," he continued as he repositioned some meat over the closest fire, "my parents deserve all the ridicule they get. They met in an opium den while Dad was still fighting with Temari's mom. Dad only got away from the dens when he got selected as the Sixth Kazekage, and Mom never even tried to get out." The Sand ninja shook his head absently. "After that, Temari's mom died on a mission, and Dad got the brilliant idea to save the village by sticking a Sand Demon in his next kid. And so we all lived happily ever after…"

"How did a guy like that get to the leader of your village?" Asked Shikamaru.

Kankurou shrugged, pausing before he went off to the next campfire. "He was a politician. He was a horrible father and had the stupidest ideas, but he was a fighter, he had a vision for our village, and had a way of connecting with the old-line ninjas. If you didn't know about the rest, he probably seemed like a reasonable choice."

Shikamaru shook his head. "Whatever."

"Besides," Kankurou continued, turning his back and slowly walking away. "All important figures have their bad spots. Dad liked the seedy side of life. The Tsuchiage actually dismissed an adviser for not liking her hairstyle. Your last Hokage was a lecher…" Kankurou trailed off for a moment. "And you've got a kinky thing for grabbing girls with your shadow." Kankurou couldn't keep the amusement out of his voice. "You'd better watch out, kid. Temari may not have been herself when you grabbed her today, but if you try that again and she _catches_ you, she's going to let you have it." Laughing to himself, Kankurou busied himself at the next cooking fire.

Refusing to dignify Kankurou's comment with a response, Shikamaru closed his eyes and slouched forward against his knees. He remained there for a moment, savoring the silence. Then the silence faded, being slowly replaced by the growing sound rustling trees. Shikamaru eventually opened his eyes as a drop of water found its way down the back of his neck. Glancing at the nearest campfire, he saw it surrounded by the telltale halo of a light rain.

"_Awww_! Come on!" Yelled Kankurou as he came to the same realization.

"_Maaaaaan_…"

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End file.
